


Thieves In Inaba

by ShadowOA



Series: Unity [1]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: implied parings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-10-31 04:04:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 72,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17842124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowOA/pseuds/ShadowOA
Summary: Ren and Ryuji are spending summer vacation in Ren's hometown of Inaba when they accidentally discover the TV World. Through the infamy of their group and curious members of Inaba's Investigation Team, a full fledged hunt begins to unmask the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. But as this goes on, entities bide their time to seek vengeance upon the Wild Card's constant meddling in the punishment of mankind. When crisis bears it's fangs, can these Persona users stand up to the task? Or is Judgement day finally come for humanity?





	1. Phantom Investigations

**Author's Note:**

> This story started out as just a simple one off prompt on my Tumblr, but due to it's set up it spun off into it's own story thanks to the help of prompt senders keeping it going. It's mostly being posted here to be easily digested by those who haven't been able to keep up with the story from the start. If it seems a bit jarring in places, that's due to the prompt based structure this comes from.

“Damn, I didn’t think the train ride would be  _ this  _ long.” Ryuji stretches, walking alongside his best friend. He had just dropped his stuff off at Ren’s house and the two were now walking the streets of Inaba’s shopping district. Summer break had just started for all school aged people of Japan, which meant that Ryuji could finally act on his promise to visit his best friend in his home town of Inaba. Taking in the sights around him, Ryuji makes a mental note of how much different this small town area differs from the bustling capital.

“All these family owned shops must be super comfy compared to all the chains back in Tokyo.” He laughs. “You don’t feel like you’re getting less for the sake of an image.”

Ren shrugs. “We still have chains here, mainly just Junes though.” 

“Oh! That’s the place you said went up a few months before the murders right? Kiiinda sketch if you ask me.” Ryuji pouts. The Inaba Murders, a topic most people in Japan knew at least a little about. When the group first found out that Ren lived in the rural area, questions about that event inevitably came up. Not that it was anything pleasant to look back on.

“The only thing sketchy was the manager's son. Guy kept having his friends gather at this one table in the food court almost every day. No one knows why, but most of the time it just sounded like they were doing school work.”

“That ain’t sketchy man, we all met up at LeBanc to do school work. That’s just prolly their equivalent.” Ryuji puts a hand in his pocket as he lets out a lazy yawn.

“What if I told you at one point both Rise and the first Detective Prince were seen among them?” The Frizzy haired teen smirks, causing his friend to lean forward with curiosity.

“…..okay now it’s sketch. You know? Now that I think about it, why don’t we head to Junes ourselves? I’ve never been so it’ll be a first for me.”

With that, the duo head to Junes. The automatic doors open as the familiar jingle plays.

_ Every day’s great at your Jun-es! _

“Geez, that’s an earworm that’s not gonna leave my head.” Ryuji laughs. “Huh? Yo dude, why’s that old model of TV still there?” he points to a TV in the back on the electronics department. Compared to every other TV in the department, this one looked like it was at least a 2011 model. Big enough to fit a person into….

“Yet another mystery about this place. That TV’s been here for as long as the store has practically. It’s never been put up for sale, and the mascot of the store is rumored to stick near it on his breaks.” Ren states casually, putting his hands behind his head and closing one eye.

“What is it with this town and weird ass mysteries? And wait mascot? I never saw one coming in.” The blond blinks in confusion, looking around the area for a mascot.

“Oh, he’s probably in another part of the store then.” Ren shrugs, walking closer to the TV to get a better look at it.

Ryuji decides to lean up against the TV…only to feel movement like water ripples on the other side. “What the ‘eff?!”

He looks at Ren, a nervous expression spreading on his face. “Did you trick me on a hidden cam show, man?”

“No! I would never! Go ahead and stand up straight, Ryuji.”

“I can’t! It’s like there’s a hole or something!”

Just then, a bear mascot runs up to them, arms flailing in a panic.

“Oh no! Don’t worry I’ll help you! Getting stuck like that is beary not good!” He states, grabbing Ryuji’s hand and tugging as much as he possibly can. 

“Dude don’t do ‘effing bear puns when you try to save someone’s life! It’s not cool!”

“Aw, I’m sorry. Teddie can’t help it sometimes.” He laughs in embarrassment as he continues to tug on Ryuji’s arm, losing traction a bit as he goes. 

Ren then notices that a wet floor sign has been tipped over. “Hey Teddie, be careful I think one of your fellow employees just-”

“AAAAAAAAAH!”

As if on cue, the bear and thief both fall into the TV.

“….mopped…wait what the fu-” 

Ren pokes the TV, and sees the ripples. “Ryuji got in….as did the mascot….and it looks like I can too. Ryuji and I have one thing in common that’d fit this probably…Persona…does that mean?”

 

“Agh! Damnit, I think I cracked my ass! wait…where are we, bear?” Ryuji looks around. He finds himself in a large field like area. Trees are everywhere and a crystal clear river flows peacefully through out. While it seems normal, something also feels natural about it all….

“This isn’t good…I promised Sensei and Yosuke I wouldn’t let anyone else into the TV and now you’re here and AH! When did you put on that mask?” The bear looks ready to jump out of his suit at the look of the teen before him. 

“Mask? …wait…” He puts a hand to his face and feels it, sure enough his Skull mask has appeared on his face. But…his clothing hasn’t changed with it. What the hell is going on?

“Teddie? Is this place connected to Persona at all?” He asks, looking around the landscape he finds himself in.

“Persona? You know about those too? ..well I guess you’d have to since you can go into the TV. You need a Persona to do that! But…why the mask? It almost looks like the mask of that one guy who was in the hacked broadcast last year!” Teddie smiles, completely unaware. 

“Hacked broadcast? …oh that! Hahaha, yeah. Must just be uh…a unintentional similarity. I don’t got that weird ass outfit see? Just plain ol’ clothing.” Ryuji tries his best to keep a straight face. Perhaps it’s a good thing this weird mascot doesn’t know.

“I see! Well I guess you want out now? See the stack of TVs behind you? Just go in them and you’ll pop right back out in Junes.” And with that, Ryuji leaves with the assistance of Teddie shoving him through the TVs.

Ren, who is still trying to figure out the TVs, suddenly has Ryuji crashing into him with a heavy thud.

“AH! Dude what the heck?!” Ren laughs. “You all in one piece?” 

Ryuji nods in response. “Yeah…but dude…I think we need to do a bit of investigating while I’m here. Something about that TV world…the bear…and the other shit you told me…it just doesn’t seem unrelated anymore…”

“So in other words… _ it’s showtime _ .” With that, the duo heads out of Junes to further talk about their new discovery.

After checking slightly to see if anyone was looking, Teddie comes out of the TV himself. “Whew, crisis averted. And Yosuke didn’t even find out! Today’s a good-”

“Ahem.”

Slowly looking up and wincing, Teddie’s mascot eyes meet with the eyes of the brunette’s.

“Ted, I think it’s your break time. Mind explaining what the hell happened a few moments ago?” Yosuke says, concern and annoyance clear in his voice.

“Y-Yeah…” And with that, they both head to the food court, dodging the crowds and workers along the way before finding their normal place to sit.

“So…that blond kid fell in…and on the other end he had a mask that looked like a skull?” Yosuke questions, foot tapping in thought. “Hmm…well you’re right that based on past experience only Persona users can enter the TV. So he’d have to be one.”

“Right? And the mask reminded me of the people who interrupted the TV last year! The one that introduced their leader?”

“Oh yeah! I was in Shibuya when it happened!” But then something hits Yosuke, as his eyes light up in realization. “….wait. Ted?”

“Yes Yosuke?”

“I think that guy’s a member of the Phantom Thieves. After Shido confessed and was put on trial, they just completely vanished. Last trace of them being that their leader supposedly testified according to the news. You know what this means right?”

The bear blinks. “That the Phantom Thieves are good guys?”

“Yes! I mean, no you idiot! It means they’re all Persona users! They might not be causing anything anymore, but…wouldn’t be cool if we unmasked them? We could even rub it in Naoto’s face.”

“You just want an excuse to use your Persona again don’t you, Yosuke?”

He pauses…and then just simply nods, sometimes there’s not a huge reason why Yosuke wants to do something.

“Well count me in! We’ll make Naoto and Sensei proud!” Teddie beams.

“That’s what I’m talking about! Now, let’s get to work.”

As they begin their solo investigating, they start to dig through any sort of news coverage. Magazines, old news reports and just about anything else they can find out in the open but unfortunately nothing had come up that wasn’t already known. 

Two days have gone by since Teddie and Yosuke had started their investigation on the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. But during that time frame, little turned up. 

“Aw come on! You’d think with all this past commotion surrounding these guys, we’d be able to dig up  _ something  _ worthwhile!” Yosuke sighs, planting his face on the table of the food court in defeat.  “We’re getting nowhere at this rate….”

Teddie, this time not in his bear suit puts a hand to his cheek. “Hmm…wasn’t there that detective guy? The one who stole Naoto-chan’s title? If past experience has taught this bear anything, those in the police have beary good information that us normal folk can’t get a hand on.”

Yosuke rolls his eyes. “Yeah, good idea. Let’s ask the detective who’s been MIA for several months. That’ll help.” 

“It was just a thought! I guess we could always call Sensei and Naoto. They’ve been in Tokyo during the whole thing right?” Teddie places his hands on the table and leans forward a bit as he speaks.

“Sure, we call them and then what? ‘Hey Partner guess what? We found those thieves from last year! We want to do an investigation on them!’ They’d never agree. Unless it’s an active crisis we shouldn’t get the whole group involved.” Yosuke sighs, defeat seeping in.

“But there could be a crisis Yosuke! My home in the TV has been safe for a while, but if all of the Phantom Thieves start using it…they could end up ruining it!” Teddie flaps his arms for emphasis. 

“I guess you have a point. Plus, it might result in good networking with another group. I’ll give Yu a call then.” With that, Yosuke takes out his cellphone and gives his best friend a call.

Later that same day, a video call is made with Yu and Naoto. 

“Alright Yosuke, let me see if I understand what you told us. The Phantom Thieves, who supposedly went off the radar after Shido’s arrest, are back?” Naoto questions, crossing her arms.

“Yep. And we only found out because a guy fell into the TV and had a mask when in the TV world.” 

“One that looked a lot like the one seen during Shido’s calling card, correct?” Yu chimes in. “Hmm..this does sound interesting. Teddie, you were there with him. Was he alone in Junes?”

Teddie shakes his head. “Nope! He had a friend the same age with him. Frizzy hair, not dyed. But I’ve seen him before. He lives here in Inaba.” 

Yosuke sighs. “See? We haven’t been able to gain much more info than that. Hell, we never even learned the Skull masked kid’s name!”

“Well you gave me a description at least. Both people are high school aged, which meets the same criteria that Akechi-kun stated during the height of the Phantom Thieves’ infamy.” Naoto seems to be writing down something in a notepad as she talks.

“Well speaking of Akechi, would there be any way for you to get into his case files over there Naoto? Anything he’s dug up might be of use to us.” Yosuke asks, hopefulness clear in his voice.

“Unfortunately, this investigation was joint. Akechi was working along with former prosecutor Sae Nijima. After his disappearance, and her movement from prosecutor to defense attorney, the files for the Phantom Thieves case seemed to have vanished.” She sighs.

“Are you kidding me?! Ugh….” Yosuke hangs his head low. 

“Yosuke, don’t give up so fast. If this Nijima was working on the case and it’s a finished one, I doubt she’d mind answering a few questions in regards to it. I’ll try to look up her contact information and shoot her an email.” Yu smiles.

“Knowing you, she’ll say yes to an interview  _ and  _ a date.” Yosuke pouts slightly, not even bothering to lift his head from his desk.

Teddie beams. “That’s our Sensei!”

“So while he takes care of that, can you both keep tabs on the Skull masked kid and his friend? Learning their names will be crucial.” Naoto looks serious. “If they pose even the slightest chance of messing with Inaba, we need to stop it.”

Everyone nods.

Meanwhile the Phantom Thieves themselves are having a group call of their own. Ryuji and Ren relay the information about their experience with this strange world they have found and are met with one shared reaction by their friends. 

“Say what?!” 

The other members of the group couldn’t believe what they had just been told.

“So, you’re saying that it wasn’t just the cognitive world that allows us as Persona users to thrive?” Yusuke asks. “And this other method…involves Television? Strange…”

“Look, I know it sounds nuts but this is big! What if this is a sign? We saved the world once, what if this TV shit means we need to band together again?” Ryuji states, foot tapping impatiently.

Futaba nods. “I get what you mean Ryuji, but so far I don’t see a reason to go in depth with theories. But..I guess we can all go into the TV and explore if that’s what you really want.”

“So we’re all going to Inaba then? Sounds good!” Ann smiles excitedly.

“My folks are out of town so we’ll have the house to ourselves the whole time. How soon will you all arrive?” Ren asks his friends, placing a hand on his right hip.

“Well…I’m not sure personally. It’ll be hard for me to slip away without the press making a big stir..but I’ll figure out something!” Haru giggles.

“As for the rest of us, possibly within a few days. We’ll give you all a heads up when we are on our way.” Makoto sighs. “Worlds within a TV…can this get any weirder?” 

 

The following day, Ryuji and Ren decide to take another walk around the town, looking for a particular spot.

“If we’re gonna explore that TV shit, we need to stay in shape.”  Ryuji says, looking around the streets at everyone going to and from places.

Ryuji and Ren are walking down the streets, at a time when most people are out and about. Ryuji, excited for the prospect of a new mission to do, had suggested that the duo look for a gym to train at.

“I dono man, best gym we have is in the High School. We don’t have everything here you’re used to.” Ren shrugs. “We could always go to the nearby city and train there.”

“Aw what? Fiiine. Getting to see more places in general is a plus anyhow. Lead the way dude.” And with that the thief duo make their way to the station…

But unknown to them, Yosuke and Teddie are watching close by. 

“The two are heading to your location Naoto.” Yosuke says, on the phone with the true detective prince. 

“Understood. Are they caring anything?”

“Nothing that could be used as a weapon. Frizzy hair has a cat in his bag however. Pet probably…” 

“A…cat? …strange. But I’ll keep an eye out.” She hangs up and looks to the person beside her. “Rise, are you sure you’d rather be here than helping Yu interview Sae-san?”

“I’m positive! As soon as he told me what was going on, I just had to tag along with you. Besides…I don’t expect Yosuke and Teddie to do much on their own.” Rise smiles. “There they are.”

Naoto walks up to Ryuji and Ren, a stern look on her face.

“Whoa! Aren’t you-” Ryuji is cut off by Naoto holding up a finger. 

“Would you both come with me? I have some questions I would like to ask you.” She states firmly, her presence alone being enough to intimidate most.

“For what? We’re just two guys hanging out! We ain’t done nothing wrong!” Ryuji states, unphased by her demands.

Rise walks over. “It’s not a police request, we just need a few questions answered…like how you gained your Persona.”

“w-wait, Persona? Do you mean that-” But before Ryuji can finish his sentence, Ren grabs his hand harshly.

“RUN, IDIOT!”

The duo flee the scene, and the girls give chase. They swerve in and out of main streets and side streets, trying their best to get them off their tail

“Being chased by a famous detective….and an Idol. It’s always been one of those weird dreams I’d get, but if it’s in this context I wish it’d stay that way..” Ryuji mutters to himself, running ahead of Ren.

“Our only shot will be to hide out in that TV in Junes. Come on!”  Ren calls, picking up speed as they near the large department store.

The two slip into Junes easily and take a complex route to confuse their pursuers before going into the TV.

“We…lost them…holy shit…”

“OW! Hey! Don’t go suddenly hopping into worlds like that!” Morgana calls out, Ren helping the now bipedal cat out of the bag. “So…this is the world in the TV…weird.”

The trio look around, taking in the nature around them.

“Dude…this is relaxing. But…there has to be something bad here. Let’s get looking. Maybe we can lose ‘em and-”

“FREEZE!” A gun can be heard getting readied. 

“Damnit! Skull, Mona! Run!” Joker calls out. Within the instant, the full thief suits appear on the two humans in a burst of blue flames as they run.

Farther and farther the chase goes. Grass, dirt and dust being kicked up as they try to make a swift escape. But it all comes to a halt when they find a door to a building. Ren desperately tries to open it, but to no avail.

“This is as far is you three go.” Naoto states, pointing her gun at them, clearly pissed off by the whole chase shenanigans. “What are your names?”

“You may call me Joker, but that’s all you’re getting out of me Shirogane.” Ren smirks as he casually leans against the door as if he wasn’t panicking just a few seconds ago. 

Rise sighs. “Great. Codenames huh?” 

Ren reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a gun of his own. “Now, we’re going to leave. And you’re going to let us.”

“ **Takehaya Susano-o** !” 

A large wind gust hits the Thieves as Yosuke and Teddie arrive on the scene. “Not gonna let that happen! Was I cool or what?”

But Joker seems to barely be hurt. “Geez, that Persona’s tough..but do you really want to fight... when you’re at a disadvantage, Wind boy?”

Ryuji smirks. “ Seiten Taisei!” Ziodine is cast, and downs Yosuke effortlessly. 

“Agh! Damnit!” Yosuke struggles to get up but is shocked to badly to move.

“Yosuke! Grrr, now I’m angry!” Teddie rushes at Ryuji, but Morgana blocks his attacks with his cutlass.

“Nice goin’ Mona! Yo Joker, should we finish this off?” Skull asks.

“Na, let’s let our reinforcements handle that.” The four other Persona users look behind them to see…

 

Nothing.

 

“Eh? I thought he said they had renforce-” A smoke bomb is dropped in an instant. Everyone shields their eyes…but when the smoke clears…the thieves have escaped. 

“How the hell did they move that fast?!” Youske yells, getting up slowly. “Ugh…we know their code names…but nothing else.” 

Teddie puts a paw on Yosuke’s back. “We’ll get them next time! We just need Sensei with us!”

“For now, Yosuke…we should take a look at your injuries.” Naoto states, pulling out a med kit. “We can’t risk losing you after all…” 

“Right…but damn them!” The Magician kicks the grass in frustration. 

_ Meanwhile in Yongen-Jaya, Tokyo.  _

Yu Narukami walks down the heavy populated streets, following a map on his phone to the meet up point. He had been able to get in contact with Sae, and was informed that any information he wanted was better to be gotten in person. 

“Cafe LeBlanc..strange place for a meet up but I’m sure she has her reasons.” Yu says to himself. He soon finds the Cafe and walks in.

“Hey, welcome.” Sojiro states. “You must be the Narukami kid, right? Nijima’s waiting for you upstairs. Don’t keep a woman waiting, alright?” He chuckles.

As Yu walks by, an orange haired girl types away on her laptop, cackling quietly to herself a bit. 

He decides to leave her be.

Ascending the stairs, he finds himself in an oddly bedroom like space. “What the…”

“You’re the one who contacted me, right?” Sae says, sitting in the couch with her legs crossed. 

“Why bring me here, of all places?” Yu asked back, taking a seat in the chair across from the couch. 

“Because I had a feeling that your questions might have something to do with the last case I did as a prosecutor. Am I wrong?” 

“That’s right. Nijima-san, do you mind answering questions about the case? More to the point…could you provide names of the members of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?” Yu crosses his arms.

“While the investigation did pull up the names of these individuals, I should clarify that they all are minors, so I can’t legally disclose their names.” She states.

“I see…” Yu nods. “What can you share with me, then?”

“Just the basic information. First sighting was at Shujin…first public calling card was for Madarame…followed by Kaneshiro and so fourth.”

“This is information anyone could tell you, if this is all you can provide me with…then why agree to answer questions?” Yu starts to act suspicious, squinting his eyes at the law-woman.

“It’s better this way…there are some who support Shido’s goals enough to try to snuff out any information on the group. You never know who's listening. Better safe than sorry, as they say. Now if we’re done here I have to go.” 

Sae gets up and leaves the cafe. Yu goes to do the same but crashes into the orange haired girl from before, causing his smartphone to hit the ground and fall out of it’s case.

“Oh gosh I’m so sorry! Here, lemme put it back in for you!” She says, picking everything up before Yu can say otherwise.

The girl works fast, putting the phone back in the case.

“Here you go, good as new!” She beams.

“Thank you, you’re too kind.” Yu smiles, heading out of the cafe soon after.

“Mwehehe. These guys just never learn.” She takes out her phone and calls someone.

“Hey Makoto, it’s like we feared. Seems this guy’s trying to snoop on us. He has to be connected to that TV World biz Ryuji told us about. I snuck the tracking app on his phone. We gotta head to Inaba and quick.”

Yosuke, now recovering from the encounter starts up a video chat. Stuck with no where else to turn to, the rest of the Investigation Team had to turn to some friends who might be of help: The Shadow Operatives.

“And you’re positive that they’re the Phantom Thieves?” 

“We’re positive, Mitsuru. When we engaged them, they had the exact same outfits as we saw during their calling card to Shido.” Naoto states. 

“I see, and your reasoning for going after them?” 

“Precautionary. Plus we don’t know where they operate on a moral standpoint exactly. While they did appear to act for the greater good, we don’t know their ultimate motives in the end. And with their slipping into the TV World, it could have unforeseen risks for Inaba as well as other places should anything go awry.”  The detective prince states.

“Their leader escaped death, correct? That in of itself is a feat worth questioning.” Akihiko smirks. “But in general there are too many questions surrounding the group that need to be answered for sure…”

“Well I wish you guys could’ve contacted the rest of us sooner!” Chie huffs.

Yu joins the call, and everyone turns their attention to him.

“Narukami, the others filled me in on your efforts with Sae Nijima, what were you able to find out?” Mitsuru asks.

“Unfortunately, nothing new.” He sighs.

“Ya know, there was a website that was made for the Phantom Thieves. I remember seeing a lot of talk about it during the hype.” Kanji says, arms folded.

“Ah! The Phantom Aficionado Website, that’s right! People would request change of hearts…and then they’d get done!” Rise claps as she speaks. 

“Requests for action, hm? …sounds too familiar.” Yukari sighs. “Well, we can try to track down the site’s webmaster. If they were able to get the Thieves to change hearts, then there might be a chance he knows who they are…”

“Right, so this is our next step: Find the Admin of the Phansite.” Yu nods.

_ Akiharbra, Tokyo _

Summer time meant new video game releases, and Yuki Mishima wasn’t about to miss the release of the newest installment of _ Innocent Sin Online.  _ Having waited about three hours in line to get his copy, the former volleyball team member was starting to get restless.

“Ugh, why do game stores have to open in late mornings anyway? Geez…” He taps his foot impatiently. “I guess I could see if anyone’s up at this hour while I wait.” With that, he takes out his cellphone and sends a text to Ren.

**_>_** **_Hey, I know it might be really early for you but I’m stuck waiting in line for something and I need help passing the time so….what’s up?_**

Two minutes pass before he gets a response from him.

- **_If I had to guess, is it ISO Armageddon?_ **

**_> How’d you know?_ **

**_\- I got early access ;D_ **

**_> LUCKY!!_ **

Yuki sighs. Once again it seems that Ren is one step ahead. But then he notices his friend typing.

**_\- Keep your guard up heading home from Akiharba, Mishima._ **

This…was concerning…what’d he mean by that? Gulping a bit, he decides to ask.

**_> What do you mean? Did something happen?_ **

**_\- There’s a group trying to snoop on us. And it’s not any of Shido’s goons._ **

**_> By us…you mean…?_ **

**_\- Yeah, anyone related to our group. Futaba managed to wire tap the phone of a guy who’s apart of it, thanks to Makoto’s sister tipping us off beforehand, but they don’t seem dumb. Avoid anyone who introduces themselves as Yu Narukami._ **

**_> Got it! I’m not letting you guys down, I promise!_ **

**_\- thx, and enjoy your game._ **

With that, the text chat ends. “Great, seems like there’s still some people who have it out for us…”  But just then, a dog barks.

“Huh? Someone brought their dog?” Mishima looks over to the source to see an albino Shiba, and who was possibly their owner. The dog has some sort of strange collar with blue circles on either side of it. 

The owner walks up and can be better seen. Black suit-like clothing with white gloves, brown hair and tall…much taller that Mishima but it seems the two are the same age. “Ah, sorry about that. Koro gets excited sometimes.” He laughs.

“It’s totally fine! You waiting in line for ISOA too?” Mishima asks, trying to break the ice.

“Actually no, unfortunately. After what happened with a friend of mine who played the original, I have no interest in the series. I’m actually looking for someone.” He sighs. 

“Oh? How come?”

“Well, this place used to be heavy with Phantom Thief supporters, and I’m writing an essay about their effect on people’s lives.” The young man kneels down to pet his dog who seems to really enjoy the attention.

He’s asking about Phantom Thief related topics…this could be a trap. The only way to find out is to learn his name…

“Do you mind if I get your name?” Yuki asks, squinting his eyes a bit.

“Ken Amada, I guess I should have introduced myself sooner” He responds. “And you are?”

“..Yuki Mishima.” While he answers his name, he’s already texting Ren behind his back.

**_> I’m getting bad vibes from a guy who just walked up to me. He has an albino Shiba Inu. Not Narukami, but I’ll try to not say anything revealing nonetheless. Ken Amada._ **

“Well Yuki, do you mind telling me what you can? From the way you responded it sounds like you support the Phantom Thieves.” Ken asks, smirking a bit.

“Sure, I’ll tell you anything you need…”

Mishima suddenly wishes he had stayed home today.

_ Amamiya Residence, Inaba _

Ren’s phone vibrates. Checking the message, his face goes from neutral to concerned. 

“Damnit!” He slams the phone on the chair arm he's standing near.

The others look to their leader. “Ren? What happened?” Makoto asks, shifting a bit in her seat in the living room of the home.

“Mishima. Some guy named Amada walked up to him asking about us.” 

“For real?! Damn…how the hell would they be able to get that he’s even connected to us that fast?” Ryuji is worried as he speaks.

“You both brought this on us when you engaged in combat within the TV. Had that not happened we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Yusuke sighs, shaking his head.

Futaba isn’t adding anything to the conversation, instead typing away on her laptop. 

“Uh hey, Futaba? You have anything to say?” Ann asks, waving her hand in front of her face.

“If they’re gonna snoop on us, then we’ll snoop back. Narukami still hasn’t realized we tapped his phone after all. So we can listen in on his calls and use whatever we hear against them.”

Haru claps her hands once. “Oh good! Well? Has he made any calls?”

Futaba nods. “Several, and they’re all recorded right here.”

With that she pushes play.

**_Playing Recording Number One_ **

**_“So you fought them in the TV world Yosuke? …I see. Did their leader ever strike back? No? I see, I wonder why. Well Naoto is currently doing a scan of past second years at Shujin. Given that this is where they were spotted first, we might get names there.”_ **

Ren’s expression hardens. “Yosuke….he must mean Yosuke Hanamura. His family moved here from Tokyo when the Junes opened.”

Ryuji sighs “Was he the guy with Takehaya Susano-o? The one with the knives?” 

“Most likely. His Persona is a wind element like Morgana.”

Haru writes down the information.

“And hold on…another name came up. Naoto…wasn’t that the name of the first Detective Prince? The one who assisted in solving the Inaba Fog Murders?” Ann asks. “If that’s the case…”

Ryuji grins widely. “These guys have to have been a group of Persona users who solved the murders!”

Futaba sighs. “We still have three more recordings to go you guys, don’t jump to conclusions just yet.”

**_Playing Recording Number Two_ **

**_“No, I haven’t had any luck. I tried calling Sae-san again but it went to voice mail each time. Any luck on your end? Huh? You guys found something at Shujin? …a former member of the Volleyball team that had a total attitude shift after Kamoshida’s confession. That is interesting…see if one person on your team can track him down. Half of my group would draw too much attention..”_ **

“Damn…who ever this second group they’re working with is good..but I can kinda get why he said ‘Half of my group would draw too much attention’ Risette’s among them as well as Naoto. But..they really know how to dig information up fast…it’s like they have some sort of huge ass influence…” Ryuji hangs his head low.

“But didn’t he say Naoto was going to look into Shujin?  The way he said that sounded like someone else was taking over the digging from her..” Haru tilts her head in confusion.

Morgana sighs. “It’s more likely that they’re working in tandem. Narukami definitely seems to be the leader type…yet we’ve yet to encounter him ourselves aside from Futaba’s brief meeting to tap his phone.”

“What does the next tape contain?” Ren asks

**_Playing Recording Number Three_ **

**_“We have a name now, Yuki Mishima. We’re not sure just yet if he made the Phansite but given how he leaked information about some transfer student…he might very well be. Hm? No I can’t risk going myself…if he’s with one of them, they might flee the scene. Is Ken currently available? Great, that’s perfect.”_ **

Ann puts a hand on her cheek. “So they used someone that wasn’t him, but we know that now… Does he suspect we already know he’s snooping on us? Or is there another reason?”

Yusuke thinks, fingers tapping on the table. “Perhaps he has existing obligations? Or he’s working on a separate half of the investigation…” 

Futaba goes to play the next one, but freezes. “Uh guys? These last two recordings are weird. The calls get cut off after two seconds…”

“Eh? Why’s that?” Ryuji blinks.

Futaba shrugs. “Maybe his phone was dying. ”

“Or maybe he was going into the TV World. If it functions anything like Palaces did, you can’t use any function on your phone while in there.” Ren looks at his friends.

“Say Futaba? When was that last recording done?” Makoto asks.

“About fifteen minutes ago? Why?”

“If he’s in the TV World, then maybe if we enter from another entrance…we can lure him and see if we can question him ourselves.”

“That’s risky though Makoto. That Junes guy was pretty strong even if I was able to down him. If this guy’s their leader who knows what Persona he has…” Ryuji sighs, slumping in his seat.

“Or how many.”

The group all looks at Ren, realizing what he might be implying.

“I’ll be the bait for this mission. If my hunch is correct, then I’ll probably be the only one to take him in an even match.” 

Futaba smirks. “If that’s the case…then what’s the plan of action Queen, Joker?”

 


	2. A Foolish Bout

_TV World, Central Hub_

A calling card has been left right in the center of the entrance that reads as follows:

**_Yu Narukami, the try hard pursuer of Truth. You who wish to expose us but yet have fallen so far. If you’re so desperate to find us out, then we challenge you. Come to the lake on the far end of this realm. Alone. Then perhaps you’ll get a chance._ **

**_From, The Phantom Thieves of Hearts._ **

“Dude! A legit calling card!” Yosuke says excitedly. “Damn this is cool….”

“Focus, Yosuke. This could possibly be a trap.” Yu pockets the card.

“Indeed, but it’s also very likely that they don’t want too many eyes on them. If we want to resolve this fast, perhaps you should go along.” Mitsuru states.

“But Mitsuru-san, is it not too risky?” Aigis worries. “Perhaps we should at least follow far behind.”

“If that’s what you wish, then go ahead. But I think I’ll be fine.” Yu smiles.

With that, Naukami heads out. The others following a different path to the lake. The walk to the redevus is long and tense. Whatever it was that could be waiting for the Investigation Team leader, it had him on edge. 

Joker awaits upon a large rock, casually tossing his knife in the air and catching it. Yu soon arrives. The phantom opens an eye in a lazy manner, as if to taunt him for his long arrival. Letting out a bored yawn, the thief laughs. 

“Geez, kept a guy waiting.” He smirks. “So, you’re the one leading this search huh? Interesting…”

“Enough fooling around ‘Joker’, we’re going to unmask you this time.” Yu states, drawing his katana and pointing it at him. He's not wasting any time questioning him. They pose a huge risk to the town after all. 

“Oh? That’s how it’s gonna be huh? Good. I haven’t had a nice fight in a while anyway. COME ARSENE!”

“IZANAGI!”

The Persona clash, sparks and shadows filing the air as Ren and Yu exchange strikes with knife and sword. Ren smirks, using his free hand to draw his pistol.

“!” Yu flinches, granting Ren the chance to deliver a swift kick to the stomach.

“NGH! Fine then…PERSONA CHANGE! BLACK FROST!”

“I knew it, COME ALICE!” 

Black Frost attempts to freeze Ren in his tracks, but he’s able to narrowly back flip out of the way, the lake instead getting frozen.

Alice then smirks, casting Play With Me. Her laughter echos though out the field as it is cast.

Yu tries to dodge it the best he can, but Black Frost takes the hit instead, the Persona glitching like a TV from the damage.

“Agh!”

“Had enough, city boy?” Joker smirks, tossing his knife in the air before catching it and pointing it straight at Yu’s neck.

“No…because I’m not alone. NOW!”

The rest of the Investigation Team and Shadow Operatives comes out of hiding.

“Ha, sly. I like it. But don’t think I didn’t plan ahead.” Ren snaps his fingers and Prometheus descends, bringing with it the remainder of the Phantom Thieves.

“Alright guys, _It’s Showtime!_ “

Futaba boosts everyone with a support, and the true fight begins.

Ren goes back to fighting Yu, as Ryuji attempts to fight off both Junpei and Yosuke.

The sword and knife clash once more, scraping as they both try to overpower the other. Both leaders are dead set on overpowering the other, for pride or for protection.

“So, you’re a wild card too huh? How come you’re not showing your full potential then?” Joker smirks, taunting his opponent.

“Same could be asked for you, Phantom Thief.”

Meanwhile, Ryuji is struggling with Junpei and Yosuke.

“I’m so not gonna get shocked by you this time!” Yosuke proclaims, trying to break through Ryuji’s constant blocking.

“If you say so, _Junes Prince._ **_SAITEN TENSEI_ ** _!”_

Ryuji’s Persona uses God’s Hand on Yosuke, sending him flying straight into the frozen lake. “Ha look at that, he was right.” Skull smirks wide as he watches Yosuke struggle to get out of the ice encasing him.

Junpei strikes Ryuji from behind. “Ha! Did you see that? Huh?” But the small victory is short lived as an attack from Makoto’s Persona shoots off at Iori, sending him back a bit.

Queen herself, is trying to fend off Chie and Akihiko who have her trapped on both sides.

“Huh, so you fight with Akido hm? This is going to be an interesting match then!” Akihiko smirks, getting back into a fighting stance. “Satanoka, will you continue to assist me?”

“Uh, of course!” She smiles in return, preparing to strike once again.

“Do your worst!” Makoto gets into a fighting stance of her own. “ **_ANAT_ **!”

Yusuke is fending off Aigis and Kanji. “One of these two doesn’t seem human, Oracle! Can I get an analysis, please?”

“The other one is an android of sorts! She’s armed to the teeth! Find some way to stop her movements! Then the other guy should be a piece of cake.” Futaba adjusts her glasses as she looks over the data. 

Yusuke is blocking as many shots as he can and nods. “ **KAMU-SUSANO**!”

He casts Bufudyne on Aigis, managing to freeze her in place.

“Junpei, I require thawing out!” She calls.

“Oh crap! Be right there!” He reaches for his Evoker, but Ryuji knocks it out of his hand with a swift club strike.“Shit!”

“Not happen’.”

Kanji grits his teeth. “The ice should thaw after a while! I got it from here!” He dashes after Yusuke, pure determination in his eyes.

“Oh please.” Yusuke manages to hook Kanji’s chair with his Katana, causing the blond emperor to come to a halt.

“What the-”

“If you took combat more seriously, you’d use a harder to counter weapon.” With that, he flings his weapon to the side and gets into a sword stance.

Haru is trying to fend off Naoto and and Mitsuru. “Oh dear….one has fire arms and the other swords. They have both long range and short range covered….”

“Surrender now, Phantom Thief.” Naoto states, with the authority of her position shining through her voice..

“Never! After everything that’s happened, we’re not going to give up! **_Come Astarte_ **!”

Haru’s Persona fires at Naoto while Haru herself tries to fight off Mitsuru.

“You have some skill with that axe, but do you believe it is enough?” Mitsuru smirks, taking out her Evoker.

“Those guns…that must be how your group calls your Persona…” Haru mutters to herself

 Astartefires a shot at Mitsuru in an attempt to make her drop it. “Well I won’t give you the chance!”

“ **Artemisia!”** Mitsuru attempts to cast Marin Karin but to no avail. “Hm…fine then. Freeze!” She goes for Bufudyne.

“NOIR!”

Morgana jumps in the way of the attack and gets frozen.

“Oh no, Mona-chan!”

Teddie and Koromaru corner the frozen cat.

“Ehehe, should we go for it Koromaru? It’s a Beary good opportunity!” Koro barks in response to Teddie. 

“Not if I have a say in it!” Futaba unfreezes and heals Morgana. “Go get ‘em Mona!”

“Nyeheheh, never underestimate the teamwork of Phantom Thieves!”

The not-cat clashes with the dog and bear, knife and claw clashing with the masked feline's cutlass.

Meanwhile, Ann is trying to keep dodging arrow fire and Staff strikes from Yukari and Ken. “Geez, you both sure are persistent.”

A fan is thrown at her. “Hm, that definitely should have hit.” Yukiko says, taking out another combat fan.

“Uh guys? I’m a bit out numbered here?” Ann says, her voice beginning to sound more panicked as she speaks.

“Don’t worry Panther! I’m on my way!” Ryuji starts to move to her location but is blocked by  Trismegistus and Takehaya Susano-o. “Shit! Fine then!” Skull takes out his Shotgun and opens fire.

Back to Ren and Yu, the two keep clashing, moving across the whole battle field in an effort to keep up with one another. “Your friends sure are strong, Narukami.” The Phantom smirks. “I’m impressed. But just because you’re strong, doesn’t mean you’ll win.”

“Talk is one thing, Joker. I’m curious to see how the Phantom Thieves’ mysterious leader earned the title.” Yu has Izanagi electrify his blade before chagrining back at the black suited teen.

“Ha, if you insist.”

Rise and Fuuka both gasp, looking at what their Persona is showing them in pure shock.

“Sempai! The power coming from their leader..whatever Persona he’s trying to call out…it’s nothing like the previous ones he’s summoned so far!”

Futaba laughs in an almost cackled manner. “It’s about to be game over for you all! BUH BYE!”

“Partner, get outta there!” Yosuke screams, desperately trying to push past Ryuji to get to his best friend's side.

“Narukami!”

“Ravage them.. **_Satanael_ **!

Ren’s ultimate Persona descends. With a cocky smirk, the Thief leader aims his gun at Yu while tossing his knife with his free hand. “Checkmate, Narukami.”

“This power…this guy really is just like our Sensei…” Teddie states, blocking strikes from Morgana as he watches.

“Damnit! We can’t do this….unless…YU! DO IT!” Yosuke calls out.

“Right. Come! **_Izanagi-no-Okami_ **!” Yu brings forth his own ultimate Persona.

Light and Darkness clash, as Ren and Yu exchange blows. Now strengthened by their Persona, their attacks hit harder. The offshoots of their clash hitting the other fights around them.

“Geez! This is getting risky to stay near!” Chie yells. “But I’m not gonna give up! We _will_ protect Inaba!”

The whole group nods to Chie’s statement.

Satanael fires at Izanagi-no-Okami, who uses its staff to block the shots much as it’s user blocks Ren’s shots with his katana.

“For the sake of my friends! I WILL NOT LOSE!” They both yell at each other, eyes burning with determination.

The attacks of Joker and Yu collide fiercely, bringing with it blinding energy that kicks up dust all around the battle ground like a sandstorm. Everyone has to shield their eyes from the debris. Some yell, but most stand their ground in belief that their leader will emerge victorious.

As the dust clears, both wild cards are trying to catch their breath. Damage to the both of them can be clearly seen, but neither seems to have any ounce of desire to give in. Instead they both come at each other again, clashing blades over and over again.

But they’re too worn, neither can even summon a single Persona in their current states.  Joker’s mask is damaged, one half of it gone…and Yu’s clothing has a lot of damage through out. They pant heavily, legs shaking slightly as they both move in to strike each other once again. 

“Joker!”

“Partner!”

“Concede Narukami, you won’t win.” Joker smirks, it seems he still has enough energy left in him to be cocky.

“Not…a chance.” He takes out a battle item from his pocket.

“Oh? Really now? Heh.” He fires a shot at Yu with his pistol, causing the item to drop and set off. It’s a wind element which Ren then tries to dodge but lacks the energy to do so.

“Heh…perfect.” Yu smiles weakly as he goes for another strike, his pace slow and shaky. 

“Ngh…” Ren goes to block the strike with his gun and manages to…but then…

Both Persona users collapse from over exertion with slightly out of sync thuds.

“Shit!” Ryuji runs over to Ren. “Come on man, wake up!” The Chariot desperately shakes his best friend, trying to get him to come to.

“Yu!” Yosuke runs over and kneels beside the silver haired Fool. “Dammit…he pushed himself too hard…”

Everyone lays down their arms. Silence fills the area for a while as some of the others examine the extent of their exertion.

“They need medical help, and fast.” Futaba states, looking over Ren’s injuries.

Ryuji carefully carries Ren. “I’ve got him.” And with that he walks off with his unconscious best friend without even making eye contact with those they were just fighting.

Youske tries to do the same, but can’t quite carry Yu. “Uh Kanji? A little help?” They both manage to carry him out as carefully as possible.

Makoto looks to Mitsuru with a serious stare. “We’ll call this a truce…for now.” They all leave the TV World at once with no objections from anyone.

_The Velvet Room, Somewhere Between Dreams and Reality_

“Hmm, it seems my guest and yours have crossed paths dear sister.” Lavenza states, watching the fight's conclusion. “But…this is not how I would have wished their meeting to come forth…”

“But given the reputation of the group young Ren led…it is only to be expected…” Margret sighs. “I do hope at the very least they both recover…”

Elizabeth sighs, re-watching the fight. “If _he_ were among them…do you think the fight would have been different? Or would it be much of the same?” Her voice is hushed, and somewhat hopeful.

“Unfortunately dear sister, that is hard to say..” Theodore states, carrying a tray of drinks to pass to his siblings. “But if I had to assume..I would think that the conflict would have only gotten worse…given his fearlessness towards death…”

Elizibeth hangs her head low, going completely silent at the thought of remembering her former guest.

“Ah, forgive me. I did not mean to upset!”

Margret shakes her head with a sigh, turning back to their viewpoint on the human realm. “Let us continue observing..”

 

_Inaba General Hospital_

Ren and Yu are both being treated for injuries. Everyone else had minor injuries by comparison and are waiting outside. Silence fills the hall for a long period of time as they all reflect on what has happened so far.

Yosuke sighs. “This…this wasn’t what we thought would happen..and in the end…this is my fault for getting this whole investigation so hyped up…” He punches a wall. If he hadn't suggested this investigation, if they just kept to their selves then Yu wouldn't be...

Teddie, out of his bear suit now…puts an arm around Yosuke. “Don’t beat yourself up over this Yosuke. I’m just as much to blame…if I had noticed the wet floor in Junes…then none of this would have happened…”

“Yo, stop. Both of you.” Ryuji looks up at them from his leaned spot near by. “Shit like this isn’t gonna fix itself if you keep causing a blame circle. It happened, and while I’m pissed it did…I’m not pissed at you guys.”

Kanji blinks in confusion. “But…we tracked you guys down, tried to snoop on you as much as possible…and you don’t hate us even then?”

The young blond shakes his head. “You guys said it yourselves during our fight, you were fighting us to protect this place. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Plus we uh…kinda wiretapped Yu’s phone so we’re even anyhow.” Futaba laughs awkwardly, causing the other two teams to give her hard stares.

Mitsuru sighs. “I’ll cover whatever the cost of the medical bill is, just to keep this whole indecent under wraps.”

“After they both get out…do you guys…mind answering questions for us?” Yosuke asks, still slightly awkward about the whole thing.

“We’ll run it by Ren.” Ryuji smirks, putting his hands behind his head casually. “If the decision isn’t unanimous, we don’t do it.”

The faces of the Investigation Team light up…they got a real first name! Ryuji just simply laughs, which sparks the others to do the same.

All they really can do for now, is wait.

_Inaba General Hospital, Room 45_

The silence within the room is both calm…and unnerving. For a long while…neither Ren nor Yu budged an inch. Only the occasional rise and fall of their chests indicated that they still drew breath. Bandages across their arms…abdomens…and small scratches all cross their faces showed the final results of their fight.

Ren is the first to open his eyes, but is almost instantaneously greeted by the pains of his injuries.”NGH! Dammit…” he mutters. He looks over to Yu in the next bed over. “He’s here too, huh?”

Yu wakes up, and winces at his own injuries before meeting eyes with Ren.

Neither knew what to say at first. One minute they were fighting each other with such fierceness as if they were bitter enemies…but now as they observed the injuries they had inflicted onto the other…they couldn’t help but feel regretful for...well everything.

Ren finally breaks the silence in the room. “I…need to apologize…for all this…” He says, much meeker than how he is as Joker, which is instantly noted by Yu.

“I need to as well. It seems in the midst of all this unmasking…we got a little too carried away…” Yu responds, laughing a bit.

“But…maybe we could both benefit from having an equal, hm?” Ren playfully smiles.  

“Don’t go trying to be all cocky now, ‘Joker’. …come to think of it…that’s the only name I know you by. Do you mind at all telling me your real-”

“Ren. Ren Amamiya.”

“So you’re just going to tell me now?” Yu blinks, confused by his sudden willingness.

“You proved yourself trustworthy after that fight.”

They both laugh. This whole situation had been nothing but funny all things considered.

“Would you mind answering questions then, Ren?”

“I won’t tell you anything about thief work unless my whole team agrees on it. But…I am open to any other questions you might have.”

Yu nods. “Fine by me.”

A few hours pass, and the wild card duo are released from the hospital. They both have their jackets on but due to their bandages, can not put their shirts back on just yet.

All of their friends are happy to see them safe and sound.

“Dude! We thought you’d be passed out for a while!” Ryuji smiles, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. “Glad to see you man.”

Ren and Ryuji fist bump each other before laughing.

“Well uh, Ren? These other two groups want to know about us and all the shit we went through. We’re thinking about saying yes but, what’s your call?” Ryuji asks.

He shrugs. “You guys tried hard to get this info. Why not reward it? But only on one condition.” Ren looks to each of them. “Not one bit of this information leaves us okay? It could be risky for all of us if it’s found out more people are knowledgeable about our exploits.”

They all nod.

“Come back to my place then. We’ll talk there.” Ren smirks. He tries to walk off all smooth like, but the remaining pain from his injuries has him instead waddling like a penguin with a wedgie.

Yosuke laughs. “Does he seriously try to be cool no matter where he’s at or what?”

Ryuji face palms. “It…just depends on the situation really…I’ll…I’ll show you all to his place now.”

The group follows the limping Ren to his home. It really isn’t much to look at. A basic house but one with enough room for this many people to visit. Ren is seated in a chair, trying not to strain himself too much.

“So, where would you like us to start?”

Hours pass as the Phantom Thieves recount their journey to their new friends. They don't go into too much detail with certain events, but others they share in full with complete confidence. Laughter and friendly banter abounds as the Phantom Thieves slowly get to know their new friends though this. But from a darkened corner of the street, a man in a monochrome suit watches from afar.

“The Phantom Thieves have gathered sir. But they have more people with them. What is our next course of action?”

A muffled voice from the other line speaks.

“Understood…our new order shall be brought in due time. But we must sever the ties that are forming….”

Within the house, Ren smiles. “And then, the shadow got this huge pig robot. Piggytron. Thing was a pain to fight…”

“Geez, we dealt with mechs used by shadows too but nothing the size you’re saying.” Yosuke shakes his head. “But Palaces…those would have been fun to explore. Sucks you guys had to get rid of the source…”

“We had no choice….” Ann shakes her head. “But hey, we saved everyone! So…it makes us the saviors of Japan or something?”

“Not that we really care. We just did what was right.” Ren smirks.

Teddie is looking out the window. “Ohh! Look guys! Shooting stars!”

Everyone looks out the windows and is in awe.

“Hold on…isn’t that one…getting a bit too close to the ground?” Junpei asks, pointing one out as it starts to descend.

“Holy shit! It’s gonna land in that field over there!” Ryuji grabs his things. “We gotta make sure no one’s in its path!”

Yu nods. “Ren  and I can’t leave but you all go warn anyone in that path.”

“Hurry!” Ren adds.

Mitsuru leads everyone as they all warn anyone nearby on the way to the field area. They all pray no one is in there at this hour….

As they approach, smoke is seen rising from the field….whatever was once in it was now burned to ash upon impact.  The field is smoking, making it hard to breathe or see among it’s black mist.

“agh! Damnit, does anyone….have a fire extinguisher?” Ryuji asks, coughing between words.

“I have one right here!” Yosuke runs up from a nearby building and lets it loose, clearing enough of the flames to see the extent of the damage caused by the fallen space rock.

The area is blackened, burned from the impact and a crater formed from where the exact landing point is.

“Damn…this…this is huge. Look at the size of the meteor.” Ryuji stares. “It’s like…the size of a wrecking ball.”

Futaba is taking pictures. “This is so cool!” She’s geeking out, taking photos like she’s at a live performance, laughing all the way. "Sojiro's gonna flip when he sees these pics!"

“Are there any casualties?” Mitsuru asks, looking around the area.

“Doesn’t seem like it.” Naoto replies. “It seems as though this part of town was abandoned.”

Everyone gives a sigh of relief. The area is soon roped off by police and the others return to Ren’s home.

“Well? Any fatalities?” Yu asks, concern in his voice. When the others shake their heads, he looks relieved, sliding in his seat a bit.

“Well…today’s been eventful. A fight for the ages, a hospital visit, a giant space rock. Who knows what’ll happen tomorrow hm?” Ren laughs, which is joined by a few others.

“Well, we’re going to stay in the area for a few days.” Mitsuru states. “There’s something about all these events happening like they did that bugs me…”

Ren and Yu seem confused.

“I can’t quite place it…but doesn’t all of this seem..too convenient?”

Ryuji snaps his fingers “I knew it! Something’s gonna happen!”

“If this is true…then I suggest we stay on top of our game.” Ren suggests. “If something does indeed happen, we’ll need to be ready to fight.”

“But Ren…you and Yu are still recovering.” Ann says. “You should be careful! You know what? I think someone should watch after you guys and-”

“Come on Ann, you worry too much. I mean it’s not like me and him will get ambushed or anything.” He laughs.

“Well…if you say so…”

Ren yawns. “It’s late, we should all get some rest. Night all.”

Everyone heads out into the dark summer night.

“And this is why I think a dance hall would be great in the room!” Elizabeth's suggestions are ignored by her siblings, as they are all observing the human world. But a gasp comes from the youngest.

“This Meteor…master what could this mean?” She asks, turning to The Nose.

“It seems the world cannot wait for the next holder of the Wild Card. We must offer our assistance once more to them.”

The Attendants nod.

 

While Night time begins to reach it’s highest, the two wild cards are greeted by a familiar song in their slumber. Following the sound, Yu and Ren find themselves once more, in the Velvet Room.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room. I am sure you both are wondering why we called you here after your journeys.” Igor states to the two.

“Has something happened?” Ren asks, taking the time to take in the Room’s new look. A Dining hall…with a broken elevator in the back.

“You could say that…the meteor that crashed in your hometown is an omen of things yet to come.” Margret states.

“So as you both are the only ones we can ask to combat this looming threat, we have reopened the access to the Velvet Room to assist you as needed.” Lavenza smiles. “Trickster, together with Yu..I know you both can do this.”

“But…what is it exactly?” Yu questions, tilting his head. “I’d think if we got a better idea of who we’re up against it could benefit us in the end.”

Elizabeth and Theodore step out, Elizabeth with her head low. “This Meteor…was a sign of a great chaos returning…but it seems…his approach is different this time. If it is truly him that is...”

“ Great chaos? Returning? Lavenza…what does she mean?” Ren asks, turning to the small Attendant.

“He is a being created by the people. A…”God” if you will, created out of humanity’s desire for demise. Normally, he tries to join with another…but it seems he is trying a different approach.” Lavenza sighs.

“So a god is trying to wreck the world a different way? Is there a way to kill it off?” Ren asks.

“Unfortunately, not without the alteration of desires…this threat must be beaten off…and done so multiple times to protect humanity.” Margret states. “For now, keep on guard.”

They both nod. But then Yu looks at the broken elevator. “If you don’t mind me asking, why is the elevator here?”

“That is…” Elizabeth starts to speak. “….you may find out one day, seeker of truth.”

“It is almost sunrise in your world. Do come to us like always, we shall be waiting and observing.” Igor chuckles, and the duo leave the Velvet Room.

The new day’s sun greets the still recovering Wild Cards. Waking from their slumber, the two head into the Kitchen in Ren’s home. Yu would have been staying at the Amagi Inn with some of his friends if he had not been injured so much. But heading into the kitchen they found not only Ryuji, who was staying with Ren prior but…someone else.

“Hi big bro!”

“Nanako? How did you know I was here?” Yu asks, slightly confused.

“I saw your scooter parked outside. You still haven’t gotten a new one yet.” She giggles. “Sorry to intrude.” She says to Ren.

“It’s no problem.” Ren smiles.

“Hold on, how do you both know each other?” Yu questions, a bit concerned.

“Uhhh, obviously because my folks also work in the police force?” Ren is confused as to why Yu sounds slightly more protective suddenly.

“Oh? Er uh…right. Guess that’d make sense.”

“Everything alright Yu?” Ren asks him

“Oh…yeah yeah, everything’s fine.”

They all eat breakfast together, and while Ryuji, Ren and Nanako chat away…Yu still has his mind focused on the Velvet Room visit.

What are they going to do? How much time do they have to prepare?

But his constant thoughts are interrupted by his dear cousin. “Hey Big Bro, did you see the huge meteor that crashed last night? It’s been the talk of the town.”

“Yeah, I’m thankful no one got hurt,” He chuckles, taking a bite of food.

“Seriously. We were all leaving the hospital when it hit and everything…” Ryuji sighs…but then realizes what he said, covering his mouth. “Shit!”

“Hospital? Oh is that why you and Ren are all bandaged up, big bro? What happened?” She asks, genuinely concerned.

“It’s nothing too concerning. Just a simple biking accident.” Yu smiles. Ren and Ryuji are quietly relieved that their older friend was able to come up with a good ably.

“Hmm..” She looks at him hard.

The rest of the meal goes by without issue, and Yu decides to spend time with Nanako for the rest of the day, leaving Ryuji and Ren together.

“Dude…did he seem, kinda different to you?” Ryuji asks, sitting down in a chair.

“Yeah. Seems he’s a bit over protective of Nanako. Wonder if something happened during his journey…”

“I kinda wanna ask, but…depending on what it is, it could be painful to talk about.” The blond sighs. “Well anyway, you’re almost better right? Wana just go into the TV and have Ann and Morgana heal you the rest of the way?”

“That might be for the best. Get the others too…I have something to share with you all.”

_Tatsuhime Shrine_

Futaba and Yusuke are visiting the shrine in Inaba that morning. “Amazing…for such a small town their shrine shines as beautiful as any other!” Yusuke is totally fascinated with it.

“Want to leave an offering then, Inari?” Futaba asks, taking in the sights herself.

“I do not have much funds to offer unfortunately.”

“Geez..don’t tell me you blew all your cash at that art shop we went into.” Futaba shakes her head. “I regularly buy video games and yet I still have better money management skills.”

As the two begin to bicker a bit, a small fox walks up to them and gives them a small yip.

“Ah! A fox? Well..I guess it’s to be expected out here.” Yusuke looks closely at it. “It seems to be friendly.”

“How can you tell, Inari?” Futaba offers the fox a chip slowly.

The fox gently takes it and munches happily.

“That gesture right there. Would it be fearful, it would have bitten you instead of taking the chip.”

“Ohhh…think everyone in town comes to visit it or something? Oh oh! Maybe it’s the guardian of the shrine!” Futaba is excited.

“A fox that watches over a shrine in a small town as it's guardian…this would make for a nice piece…” Yusuke chuckles, kneeling down to the fox’s level. “You wouldn’t mind if I used your likeness, would you?”

“Yip!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

The duo walk onward. And as they do so, they notice that Ann is checking out the Tofu Shop.

“So…this is where Rise’s family works….wow…” She’s in complete awe. She orders some tofu and heads out, taking a stroll as she takes in the sights.

“Ren really lives in a peaceful town. Sure a giant space rock crashed, but over all…the vibe is very different from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo.” She notes to herself as she takes a bite. She noties her phone going off with a message from Ren asking everyone to meet up in the TV.

Soon, the Phantom Thieves meet up in the TV World's hub at Ren's request.

“So…you want me to heal your injuries Ren? Shouldn’t we wait to do it to Yu as well?” Morgana asks.

“He’s out with his cousin, give him some family time. Plus his team has healers, they can do it.”

The cat sighs. “Alright. Lady Ann? You ready?”

“Always.”

Ann and Morgana heal Ren.

“Ahh…thanks guys.”

Makoto looks to Ren “Now you asked us all to come because you were brought to the Velvet Room last night. What did you learn?”

As Ren talks to his team, a scraping sound quietly echoes throughout the TV World. Dragging, scraping, static. As the sound gets more and more clear, the TVs strewn about the field go from clear pristine imagery of peaceful skies and lands, to coffins and images of pain.

A voice speaks through the televisions, in a hushed whisper muttering the same words over and over again in a chilling voice that is almost ghastly to the ears.

“Fallen…darkness…fear…sorrow…”

The scraping gets louder, fiercer. Morgana’s ear twitches to the sound. More words are spoke.

“Fall…destruction…suffering…”

The TVs start to shake, almost as if they themselves are fearful of what is coming.

“Fallen…darkness…fear…sorrow…”

Morgana tenses up.

“Fall….destruction…suffering..”

Morgana looks to the group. “Guys! We need to run, now!”

The quivering TVs start to shatter from way back to the field, and getting closer to the group. Makoto clings to Ren for dear life as the others start to rise.

“Fallen…darkness…fear…sorrow…”

“Dammit! Let’s go, now!” Ren ushers the others to go ahead, pushing Makoto onward for her safety. He watches them one by one leave, before he himself starts to rise up.

But a TV…right behind Ren’s head turns on…and a flickering image of a ghostly hooded figure appears on it.

“I am he who rings in death…he who shall greet the end…and you shall not escape my grasp.”

Ren is paralyzed with fear…but then…a Persona can be heard summoned…and fire is shot at the TV.

“Who…are you?” Ren stares at the Persona user who saved his life in pure awe. Smaller figure…but presumably around the same age as him but their face is hidden by a slightly ragged hood. He tries to use his Third eye to figure out their alignment…but can’t recognize the arcana.

_Moments earlier…on the streets of Inaba_

“So where are they? I was gonna suggest we all head to the beach to get to know each other better, but..they’re just gone.” Yosuke sighs, leaning up against a light post.

“Like a Phantom!” Chie seems to have sparkles in her eyes.

“Chie, just because they’re called ‘Phantom Thieves’ doesn’t make them ghostly. They’re probably just in the TV World.”

“Training? Or do you think Ren just wanted to get healed?” Yu asks, looking down before regaining eye contact with his friends.

“I mean, knowing how professional they handle themselves they’re probably doing both. I mean it’s not like they’re going to get into any sort of trouble or any-” but before Junpei can finish his sentence, Ryuji dashes by, holding a very puffed up Morgana with the others following close behind. Except…where’s Ren?

“WHOA! Guys! What’s with the rush? Don’t tell me you did something…” Yosuke sighs, sounding like an annoyed older brother.

But it seems none of them heard him, instead the group is counting their numbers…before realizing that Ren never escaped from whatever they were running from.

“Damnit! I knew we shouldn’t have left him behind…” Ryuji sounds hurt as he speaks. “Do…do you think he’ll be okay? We just healed him so he can fight and-”

Morgana looks down. “That..thing…it was nothing like we’ve seen before…I can’t say for sure. I sensed..a lot from it. All we can do is hope.”

“Screw hope! I’m going back in for him!”

“Ryuji! I don’t want to risk losing you again!” Ann grabs him by the arm and gives him a look of worry.

“I..I know. But I can’t just sit back and just hope he can make it out when I have the power to help him!” He sounds frustrated, but the worry in his voice only grows.

The other groups look at each other.

Yu and Mitsuru begin to walk up to the Thieves to offer assistance, but just as they’re about to approach them…a hooded teen dashes by. The hood falls off for a brief moment revealing blue hair before it is quickly put back up as the teen runs into Junes.

Mitsuru stops dead in her tracks, slowly looking to her team as if to confirm that what she had just seen had been what she assumed. Her teammates share her shocked and confused reaction. And the other two groups? …have no idea what has suddenly gotten them worked up.

_Back In The TV World_

“Look, I’d love to explain but we kind of have an ongoing situation. You can use Persona right? Back me up.”  The hooded user states to Ren, motioning to the shadows leaking out of the broken TV as if they were ooze. The Phantom Suit appears on Ren in full.

“Right, **Arsene**!”

“ **Orpheus Telos!** ”

Ren notices the way this user summons Persona…the same way Mitsuru’s group does. With an Evoker. Was this another member of the Shadow Ops?

The duo fights the shadows as they emerge, the fields around them slowly fading into a red misty area with dead grass and rusted weapons emerging where trees once stood. Larger shadows draw them and start to swing at the duo. Axes, broadswords, lances..all shaking the ground as they land.

Ren narrowly dodges the strikes as they get closer and closer, while the other seems to be dashing right at the shadows. He draws a sword from the ground as he runs, cutting a shadow in half before throwing the sword at another. He then draws a staff from the ground.

“ **KING FROST!”**

He freezes a few shadows, allowing both him and Ren to shatter them effortlessly.

“Four more left. What’s our plan of attack, man?” Ren asks, his cocky tone already in full force as he tosses his knife a few times.

“You take the left, I take the right.” The other smirks.

“Kickass.”

They run, summoning their Persona and letting off elemental attacks at their targets in almost unison. The shadows shriek as they die, the cries echoing in the now quiet area.

“Haha! I was terrified for a moment there…but you saved me there…uh….”

“Minato.”

“Minato huh? Name’s Ren, thanks for doing what you did man. Seriously.”

“I mean, you being in danger was the whole reason I came in the first place.” He sighs and mutters to himself. “But how long this time…?”

“Hm? You seem a bit down, any reason?”

“Ah it’s nothing you should worry yourself about. Just…personal problems is all.” He adverts his gaze slightly to hide the nervousness in his face.

“Well uh, if you don’t mind me asking…are you apart of the Shadow Operatives? I saw you use an Evoker and..”

“The…what? I seriously have no clue what that is.” He mutters to himself again. “Did Mitsuru keep the group going under a new banner after everyone graduated?”

_Back In The Real World_

“There is no way that was Minato. You remember what we were told right?” Junpei states. “He’s…”

“Yeah, but also keep in mind Elizabeth…who said she watched his Journey was actively finding a way to bring him back since he never got to live a full life…maybe she finally did it?” Yukari states. “But…then why would he just run past all of us without as much as a greeting?”

“Regardless who it was, we need to run after them. They were in a rush to get into Junes. They might know something.” Mitsuru states. The team nods.

Yukari goes to double check if she has her Evoker…only to notice it’s missing from the holster. “Huh? Guys? Where’s my Evoker?” But there was no time to check, they had someone to tail.  

Mitsuru and the others head into the TV World where Minato and Ren are standing, observing the ruined field.

Minato hears their footsteps, and starts to leave…but a hand is placed on his shoulder before he can make a move.

“Is it…actually you Minato?” Ken asks, Koromaru sniffing at him before barking happily as if to confirm it.

He’s quiet, as if guilty for putting his friends though all that worry. He slowly moves to discard the hood on his head, and turns to face the group, his guilt clearly visible on his face.

“Everyone I’m sorry for not saying any-” but before he can finish his sentence, he’s embraced by all of them, Koromaru even trying his hardest to join in with a tail wagging at high speeds.

The others smile at this reunion, while they might not understand what led to this quite yet, it is heartwarming sight to behold.

After a long while, the embrace ends. Minato looks to the others. “So…these new friends of yours or what?”

“They are, actually. During your…absence…two other major events happened that needed these groups to take up the reigns.” Mitsuru explains.

“More like several in our case….” Yosuke mutters before Chie elbows him in annoyance.

Minato nods, giving Yu and Ren a quick once over before smirking slightly. This confuses the other two.

But then, Ryuji speaks up. “Hey uh, what happened here after we fled? I’m guessing your friend Minato saved Ren’s bacon but..why does everything look like an ‘effing war zone now?”

“It happened after I destroyed the TV behind him, Shadows probably caused it somehow. But..I wouldn’t be able to say exactly.” Minato shrugs.

“Well if Shadows are gonna appear, then maybe we should take this chat somewhere a little safer?” Yosuke suggests, looking around the area. “I don’t want to get ambushed.”

“Let’s head back to my place.” Ren says.

So the group, now with another person heads back. But as they leave the TV World, a single spared TV amidst the rubble flickers….as if observing.

The group gathers at Ren’s home, Minato takes the time to look around the place and notes all of the updated tech since he was last around.

“Huh, I thought we’d be closer to that one movie by now..” He shrugs, taking a seat on a couch.

“Okay Minato, first things first…just…how are you here exactly?” Yukari asks.

The blue haired teen shrugs. “I honestly couldn’t tell you. I just woke up and found myself right near the entrance of a town I’ve never been to before. Blue butterfly told me that I needed to save someone in a TV and…my body sort of acted on it’s own at that point.”

“Hold on, he says he…woke up? I thought he was just you know, far away from you all.” Ryuji states. “What…happened?”

The Shadow Operatives are quiet, but Minatio looks Ryuji in the eyes. “It’s a long story, but the general thing was….I died.”

The other two groups are in shock.

“So…wait, when Elizabeth said she was gonna bring you back she meant…like back back?” Kanji asks.

Minato nods. “But, I don’t know if she was the one who did it or not. I’ll probably find out tonight.” He then looks to his friends. “But then I have a question for you all: Shadow Operatives huh? I guess passing the group off as a school club doesn’t work as well if all members out out of said school.”

They laugh as Minato smirks.

“But no matter if my return is for good or temporary, I’m going to make the most of it. That..ghoul that attacked in the TV, it needs to be taken down.”

“For real man. He said shit like: _I am he who rings in death…he who shall greet the end._ Like what does he think he is..some kinda Death Bringer?” Ryuji rolls his eyes.

“Well, whatever he is we have a team that can hopefully stop him from dragging anyone to an early grave.” Yu states. “If he’s using the TV World, we might get heavy fog rolling in again. Stay on guard everyone…this might just be the beginning.”

Evening rolls in as the Shadow Operatives try to catch Mintato up on the current goings on in the world.

“Geez, I didn’t expect cell phones to improve this much in a few years but I’ll take it.” Minato laughs. “But, that’s enough about the world in general…I’m more concerned about you guys. You all…were never told what happened to me. Hell, I didn’t even fully know what was gonna happen until it did. So…how did you guys learn about it?”

“We…found out because…we got trapped in our dorms…in a time loop.” Aigis states. “The cause for this was the Abyss of Time. We all confronted our pasts and were given a chance to go back in time…but..”

Ren is listening in from behind a wall as they keep talking, curiosity overtaking him.

Yukari sighs. “But we ended up fighting each other. We were…so caught up with wanting to see you or…wanting to save you or letting you rest peacefully that…”

Minato nods. “I get it…you all were grieving. It makes it hard though…hearing just how badly my absence affected you all, and I’m deeply sorry for that.”

“Don’t be.” Ken looks up at him. “You couldn’t prevent your sacrifice without endangering the world. That’s…that’s what we were told. You were sealing Nyx from humanity’s call of despair.”

He nods.

“But…I have a question.” Mitsuru speaks up. “If he’s supposed to be a seal…but he’s here with us in the flesh, then what does that mean for what he’s supposed to be sealing?”

The whole group suddenly looks worried, turning to Minato to look for an answer. Minato's expression is a bit shocked, raising up his hands in a bit of defense.

“I have zero clue! For all we know I could probably still be a seal as well. “

Ren looks behind him, to see all of his friends were eavesdropping too. Ryuji starts to say something but he’s tackled by Ann before he can speak. The information they heard…was too much to grasp. 

They all soon retreat to the hotel or bedrooms. Minato, who can’t really register his name anywhere due to his deceased status, has to stay with Ren.

While the blue haired teen sleeps soundly, Ren and Ryuji are having trouble.

“Dude…he’s supposed to be like…sealing up some evil malice or something. It’s cognition, just like Yaldaduche. Do you think there’s more evil deity things out there?” Ryuji asks, staring at the ceiling.

“Probably. Yu and his group had to have done some saving themselves so…I guess there’s always going to be some sort of crisis cause by humanity that needs people to step in…” Ren sighs.

“We just..can’t catch a break. If it’s not any of us, some other group of Persona users will rise up and fight it.” Ryuji nods a bit.

“It’s an unforgiving cycle for sure…but in a way, it is helpful…” Ryuji looks at Ren with a confused look after his best friend says that.

“How? Last I checked, a lot of people died due to their Shadow’s getting killed, or other shit.” He has a serious look in his eyes.

“No I mean, without this journey…would we have met? Became friends? Same with Yu and Minato. They went through hell…just like we did…and look: They have friends for it. I don’t like how it had to have happened for sure, but I am thankful for it happening if only because I have you all.”

Ryuji laughs. “Dude that was so sappy. But…yeah, I have to agree.”

“We should probably rest, we need to figure out how to fight this Death Bringer asshole in the morning.” With that they both roll over and fall asleep.

 


	3. Shadows Abound

_Somewhere Within The TV World_

**_“Chronos vanished…and with his guidance no longer in the world…I can go unhindered. Humanity shall suffer…”_ **

The ghostly voice of the death bringer chuckles, pacing around the fields. He stops at a flickering TV and, with a clawed glove on his right hand, scrapes the screen a bit to show the human world…more specifically…Minato resting. He growls at the image before checking another, and smirking at who he sees.

“This shall do…”

_Back in the real world_

The whole group is gathered at the Amagi Inn’s dining hall that morning. Minato is eating away as the others discuss what their next move will be.

“We need to be careful now that the TV world is hostile again…” Teddie states, arms folded as his blue eyes stare at his food. “This jerk stirred up all the shadows so I’m sure we’ll have to retake those areas..”

Yu nods. “Right, then there’s the matter of how it’ll effect Inaba. Would the fog roll in again?”

Morgana shakes his head from within Ren's bag. “Not as far as I can tell. The fog seems to be a different part of the human cognition so it wouldn’t happen since you cut off it’s source.”

“So everyone out here is safe then?” Ryuji asks, sounding slightly relieved. “Cause, that’s what you’re making it sound like.”

Minato pauses to respond, looking directly at Ryuji. “Not really. As long as that thing is active, we run the risk of it coming out into our world. We have no idea what that could do. So we’re better off treating it like it’s a high danger situation.”

Everyone nods in agreement before Ren sighs.

“He was targeting me in general…but why?” The theif states, placing a hand on his cheek in deep thought

Ann’s eyes meet his. “Maybe it’s because you faked your death back when we duped Akechi?”

“Yeah…so he’s treating me like a dead man walking and is trying to make sure I die for real.”

Aigis suddenly looks really worried. “Does this mean that Minato may be targeted as well? He should not be among us, but he currently is.”

“Damn, she has a point.” Kanji looks at Minato. “Think we should try to use that to our advantage or somethn’?”

Yu shakes his head. “I wouldn’t want to risk it. Sure they both made it out mostly unharmed, but it was just regular Shadows. We barely know what we’re up against. We’d do best if we stick together.”

“But, we run the risk of being a huuuuge target.” Futaba chimes in. “We have way too many people here. If we want to try to solve this, we’re better off splitting back up into our individual groups and relaying any info we get.”

Mitsuru agrees. “That might be for the best. Plus this way, we can all use different means of intel gathering without running the risk of messing up how another operates.”

“If that’s settled then how should this be laid out?” Ren asks.

“Well leave talking to the townsfolk to us.” Yosuke smiles. “Most of us live here so we’d have an easier time learning about any odd happenings.”

“Our team will check in the TV World for any anomalies that might have cropped up since it’s change in environment.” Mitsuru states, looking among her friends.

“That leaves us with the back end info. The city over might have people willing to talk with us. Plus I have allies back in Tokyo that might be able to chip in some goings on should this not be a contained thing.” Ren smirks, clearly trying to show off to his older Persona user friends.

Yu nods. “Well if that’s all settled, we should probably get a head start on this as soon as possible.”

Intel Gathering was at it highest importance, between the Meteor crashing and the sudden appearance of the threat the group has dubbed Death Bringer there needed to be some sort of disturbance in other areas.  The Investigation Team has split up to cover more ground in Inaba.

Yosuke and Teddie decided to check Junes for people that might have some information about goings on. However, so far much like before..they haven’t dug up anything useful,

“You gotta be kidding me, we’re in a crisis and we _still_ come up with nothing new!” Yosuke sighs, placing his hands in his pockets in annoyance. “We need a reliable source of info and fast..”

Teddie suddenly gasps. “Marie-chan’s over there. Think she might be able to help?” Yosuke looks in the direction the Mascot is pointing in to see Marie shopping for a new journal in the art section.

“Hey yeah! She’d be a good start. But…doesn’t she only like Yu? Should we wait?” He sounds a bit reluctant to walk over.

“What happened to being in a crisis? I’m sure if we explain what’s up she’ll have to talk right? If nothing else, I can charm her with my beary good looks.” He gives Yosuke a cheeky grin that only earns an eye roll as a response.

The duo walk over right as Marie is about to turn around. “Huh? Oh it’s you two. You need something or are you just trying to be annoying again?” The black haired girl crosses her arms.

“We need to ask you something important. Things have gone wild again and we’re trying to make sure that nothing has happened outside of the TV.” Yosuke states.

“So what, you want to know if anything has happened? You live here right? You should have noticed something yourself.” Annoyance is clear in her tone.

“L-Look, we were busy chasing the Thieves and-” But she cuts Yosuke off before he can finish.

“Well, I can tell you what I heard on the way in here. Some people in the electronics isle mentioned how a few kids went missing from a school trip out to the city. If whatever is going on has any connection to that, the city might be your best bet.” With that, Marie walks off.

“Missing children’s case huh… Think we should go ask Yu’s uncle?” Yosuke turns to Teddie.

“It’s a clue for sure! But we should at least tell the others what we found out. Oh! And make sure Ren’s team sees it too!”

Elsewhere within the city, the Shadow Operatives prepare to explore the TV World for clues. Minato is still puzzled by the concept of entering TVs.

“So..could we have entered TVs ourselves prior? Or only after Yu and his friends?” He asks, cleaning his old Katana.

“We don’t know.” Mitsuru responds. “All we know is it’s a hub that stays active unlike the Dark Hour or the Metaverse that Ren’s group traveled in.”

“Well as long as it exists, we can all stay sharp on our skills right? So there’s no issue with it.” Akihiko smirks.

“But wait, how did you know to even go in the TV the first time when you saved Ren?” Yukari asks.

“Like I said, my body was kind of on auto pilot. I didn’t really become aware of what I was doing until I sensed the shadows near me.” He doesn’t even look up from his sword cleaning as he speaks, eyes focused and serious.

“That’s certainly strange…” Fuuka notes with a solid nod. “But perhaps it’s for the best we don’t know for now.”

“Right, our priory is finding out the overall status of the TV World.” Ken nods, Koromaru barking in agreement.

“Well lead the way to the entrance then.” Minato watches as his friends head out, but before he can move himself, there’s a gentle tug at his shirt.

Turning to look he meets eyes with none other than Nanako Dojima, Yu’s cousin. She has a serious look on her face.

“Excuse me but…I need to ask you something. You were with my big bro right?” She asks innocently.

“Your Big Bro? Do you mean Yu?”

“Uh huh! I saw you talking to him before he walked off to the Police Center, did…did something bad happen again?” She looks a bit nervous. “There was murders back when he first came….I don’t want anything else bad to happen..”

Minato kneels to get to her level and places a hand on her shoulder. “I promise, nothing bad is going to happen. We’re just helping out with the missing children’s case is all.”

“Really? Oh that’s good. My Big Bro is so smart I know he can help bring those other kids back to their families.” She giggles a bit. “But…the air feels a bit funny right now.”

That statement caught him off guard. The air? “Do you mean that literally?”

“Uh-huh. It’s ticklish a bit…is it because of the Meteor?”

“Possibly, it’ll go away after a while I bet.” He gives her a comforting smile.

She smiles back, laughing a bit before realizing something. “Oops! I need to get back home. My dad was talking with Yosuke for a long time and I got bored. Thank you for talking to me, mister!”

“Haha, no problem. Be safe Nanako.” He stays long enough to watch her cross the street safely before taking out his cellphone and texting everyone.

“Ask…about….air…quality….and send. If Nanako isn’t the only one who’s noticed this…then we might need to take this as a much more serious issue.”

Within the halls of the Police Station’s visitation room, a certain prisoner is walked to meet Yu and Naoto. He seems fairly calm, as if expecting this visit.

“So, it’s you both this time huh? Shocker. And here I thought your whole merry band was going to greet me this time.” He smirks.

“We’re not here for jokes, Adachi.” Naoto states firmly, hands placed on the table that separates visitor and prisoner.

“I gathered as much. So let me guess, another crisis happened?”

“It’s what it’s shaping out to be at least. Some other thing in that world popped up, and we have no idea how to go about dealing with it.” Yu sighs.

“Well I can’t do much from where I’m at unless it’s by shear luck like with that Sho kid. But I did hear some things from the TV in my cell if it could be of any help.” Adachi looks serious.

“Oh? Could you elaborate please?” Naoto leans forward to pay closer attention.

“I seemed to be the only one who could hear it but…it was talking about ‘Punishing Sinners’ . Whatever the hell you guys pissed off, it sounds preeeety damn crazy.” He laughs a bit. “Ah, but, should I be able to assist somehow I may, but for now that’s all I can give.”

“One more thing, Adachi…was your TV turned off when you heard that?” Yu asks.

“If it makes any difference, it was.”

“Alright, thank you.” Yu nods.

The visitation ends and Yu and Naoto leave the area. Both going over the new information given when their phones go off.

“Ask about air quality? And…missing children’s case?” Naoto reads over the texts. “Seems like we might have more pieces to the puzzle than we thought. Hopefully the others have a handle on their parts….”

In Okina City, the Thieves are hard at work gathering intel from the locals. They’re able to gather a lot. Except for Futaba that is, she keeps freezing up at every other person she tires to talk to. She can't even talk to a person in a mascot suit without hiding behind Ren.

“Come on Futaba, I thought you would have gotten better about this by now…” Morgana sighs as Ren and Futaba sit down at a bench after six failed attempts.

“You don’t just get over all social fears in a year, cat! It takes time!” She huffs, taking out her laptop and starting to type away.

“What are you doing?” Ren asks, looking over her shoulder.

“Compiling every bit of intel we all have obtained so far. Air quality was noticed by six people, including Nanako-chan, on top of that the missing children’s case has been a buzz topic. The kids were visiting this city on a school field trip and it was when they went to go buy a souvenir from around the area that six kids vanished. Three girls and three boys. But so far, there’s no correlation between the air quality and the kids that vanished. Could one of these be a red herring?”

Morgana shakes his head. “Not quite, those two jock guys Ryuji talked to seemed to be really concerned that the air might be making people sick.”

“What were their names again? Kou and Daisuke?” Ren asks. “Either way,we have to keep in mind what Yu and Naoto said in this text. The culprit of the murder case who’s also a Persona user claimed to hear a voice in his cell TV when turned off..”

“Punishing Sinners right? Maybe he’s using these kids as bait?” Futaba guesses.

“If that were the case, then it’d prove the theory of Deathy being able to leave the TV..in which case he’d be better off chasing us..” Morgana sighs.

“Whoa whoa whoa, did you just say ‘Deathy?’“ Ren laughs. “That is so silly, dude.”

“What? We don’t know his actual name so…”

“We can do so much better than that and you know it, cat.” Futaba sighs. “But anyway…we need to see what Mitsuru’s team pulls off. They’re going into the TV World as we speak…”

“I hope they stay safe…” Ren looks up at the clouds as he begins to slip into deep thought.

The Investigation Team is reading over the data provided by Futaba. And Yu is tense as he reads his phone, eyebrows furrowed as he stares at the screen.

“Nanako noticed something odd in the air…” He mutters.

The others look to him as he puts away his phone. “Guys? Does the air around here feel odd to you in any way?”

They all go quiet, but then Yukiko takes a sip of water. “Oh, sorry. It’s just I’ve been getting this really dry throat as of late..”

“It seems to be affecting us each differently..I find myself getting drained quite quickly out here..” Naoto states.

“I think it’s one of three, I’ve been feeling kinda tired myself.” Yosuke states. “But I have a feeling I know where Yu’s going with this. Kou and Daisuke only talked about the air quality because Ryuji brought it up according to the report Futaba gave us. As if they noticed it after it was brought up...”

“Right, and the idea to check was brought to our attention by Minato speaking with Nanako. Well… the deal is Nanako went into the TV…and the rest of us have Persona…” Yu sighs. “So…what could this mean?”

Teddie snaps his fingers “The meteor!”

“What do you mean Teddie?” Rise asks, sitting down in a bench. The others gather around it as they listen to what the bear has to say.

“Well, think about it. All of this didn’t start happening until that giant rock crashed in Inaba!”

“Bear’s got a point. Police were super quick about sealing up the area too…you think they know somethin’ we don’t?” Kanji looks over at the barricaded area nearby. 

“It’s possible.” Naoto nods. “During Ren’s group’s rise, the majority of the Police force in Japan were under influence by Shido. Despite his current prison sentence, his most loyal still remain at large…”

“Which means they could be covering up something to abuse its power?” Yosuke asks. “If that’s the case then we gotta go see that Meteor!”

“So! We’ll need to sneak in. Kanji can distract the guards while the rest of us slip in. Oh oh! Or maybe we can-” But Chie gets cut off by Yu.

“Wouldn’t it be easier if you and Naoto just requested permission? You’re training in the Police Academy and Naoto is fully registered with good credits. If they turned you both down,it’d look bad on them.” Yu puts his hands in his pockets.

“But what if it doesn’t work, Partner? We need a back up plan.”

“Well…then I’ll just test out my theory about the Meteor right then and there.”

The others look confused, but Yu just stands up straight. “The more time we waste, the less info we get. Let’s move.”

Making their way to the two guards, Naoto and Chie walk up and flash their badges. But the officers just squint at them with a ticked off look.

“Look Miss Detective Prince, we’d love to let you pass but the area beyond is dangerous and we can’t risk losing the last detective we have of your caliber. After Akechi vanished, you’re all we have left.” The officer on the left seems to be trying to get her to back off with complements. Not that it’s working however.

“I have important business in regards to the Meteorite, now move.” She’s not requesting permission anymore, she’s demanding it.

The others are trying hard not to freak out from behind a nearby tree, even Chie is having a hard time keeping her composure.

“What did you say? Are you really so full of yourself because you got into the force before high school that you think you can just give us orders?”  The two officers seem to glitch a bit.

Naoto suddenly realizes something Minato had mentioned earlier... “You two aren’t human, are you?”

Chie nods, looking closely at the two. “Yeah, look at them. Red eyes and all, they’re shadows pretending to be officers. But…if anyone in public sees us fighting police officers…we could risk getting arrested by real ones…”

The shadows laugh. “That’s right, girl. You can’t win this round so give up and go ho-” Lighting suddenly strikes them out of nowhere, causing them both to fade in a black mist.

“If it’s not seen, it doesn’t count. Now come on let’s go.” Yu runs to the site. The others shrug and follow.

“Wait dude, you were able to summon Izanagi back there, but how? We’re not in the TV World or anything!” Yosuke holds his head in confusion.

“It’s the same reason why those shadows were here, the Meteor is allowing it to happen somehow…” Yu places his right hand on it. “Despite the time that’s passed, it still feels hot to the touch like it only landed a few hours ago. But why?”

“Ted? You have any idea?” Yosuke asks, looking to the blond shadow.

“Well I can’t think of anything…but maybe our new threat caused it to appear?” He shrugs, not able to come up with more detailed explanations.

“We should have Mitsuru’s group look at it and…” But suddenly Yu’s cell phone rings. It’s an unknown Tokyo cell number, but regardless he answers it.

“H-Hello? Please tell me this is Yu Narukami!” A panicked teens voice is on the other line.

“It is, who is this?”

“Y-Yuki Mishima! You guys tracked me down a few days ago and-” there’s a girl’s scream followed by a roar in the background. “DAMNIT! Ren gave me your number and told me to watch after your cousin! There’s some sort of monster loose in the city! They’re trying to fight it off but they want her and me!”

“Wait what?! Are you in the city right now Yuki?”

There’s no response.

“YUKI!”

“Y-Yes! We’re hiding in the movie theater! Everyone else doesn’t seem to see these monsters but somehow Nanako and I can! Please hurry! We-” The call goes dead suddenly.

Yu looks to the others. “We have to get to Okina, NOW!”

“Damnit!” Ren and the others are trying their best to fight through the sea of Shadows in the streets of Okina, as the fight has gone on..more and more people have started to notice the Shadows and the Phantom Thieves’ outfits.

Ryuji is launched by a wolf shadow and lands near Kou, Daisuke and a third. Kou kneels down. “What the hell? Are you okay?” he asks.

Ryuji winces and looks at the three. “…yeah they’ll probably do it. Yo! Get as many people as you can evacuated, double time! That south exit’s safe, so lead them all that direction.”

“But, what about you?” Daisuke asks, worried.

“I need to fight these shit heads off, now go please!”

“But-” The third raises his hand to interrupt the soccer player.

“We need to do what he asks, this is life or death.”

Nodding, the three begin leading the large crowd of people to safety while Ryuji tries his best to block the shadows from getting close. “Thanks, Kazushi…” He then looks up at the wolf shadow. “Aigt you damn wolf, time to be put down.”

Meanwhile, within the theater…Nanako is crying softly. Mishima is trying to do the best he can to comfort her as the shadows try to get to them.

“Hey, Nanako-chan…everything’s gonna be okay. I promise…” He puts a hand on her shoulder as she looks at him with tears in her eyes.

“Bu-But those monsters….they tried to hurt people! They took away a girl! I saw it! I…” Mishima gives her a kind smile as she speaks, which reassures her.

“I’ll protect you from those monsters. I promise.” He states firmly, a serious look on his face.

“You will?”

“Of course.”

Nanako giggles, which gives Mishima a bit of relief. The constant banging on the door of the theater keeps going. But, Mishima suddenly reaches into his oversized bag and pulls out a model crossbow. He had bought it on impulse after seeing how often Ren would come out of Untouchable with a model gun..

“Huh? Whatca gonna do with that?” Nanako asks.

“Stay here, Nanako-chan. I’m going to make an opening for us.” He loads the crossbow. “This isn’t a real one…but maybe it’ll stun them? …here’s hoping…” He rises and goes to the door, opening it a bit.

“EAT THIS!” He fires a bolt at one of the shadow beasts and watches as it actually kills. “What the hell…it worked? It actually worked! Haha!”

The other shadows growl at him, and Mishima starts to fumble to get the next bolt in. “Shit! Come on..come on…”

The shadows tackle him to the ground and start to sniff for Nanako. Mishima is frozen in fear. He had been asked to protect her but he couldn’t even do that…

“Damnit…maybe I really am useless…”

**_“Is that truly what you think?”_ **

A sharp pain comes to him in an instant, causing Mishima to fall to his knees.

“ngh!”

**_“A year ago you were nothing more than someone to step on, yet you’ve come so far…are you going to throw that all away by allowing someone to get hurt once again due to those foolish thoughts of yours?”_ **

“n-no…I don’t want to make that mistake ever again…I can’t.” He puts a hand on his chest as he speaks, breathing heavily.

**_“Then vow to me. I am thou…thou art I…your will shall become your strength…call upon my name and show no falter!”_ **

With a mask appearing upon his face, Mishima rips it off with no hesitance, his casual wear making way for a suit decked out in light green leather. Pointing his crossbow at the shadows he smirks. “Yo, shadows! If you’re gonna pick a fight with anyone, why not with me? Kazama, let’s show them no mercy!” An oni like figure in ninja attire is behind him as he loads another bolt in his crossbow.

As he engages the shadows in combat, Ren and the others are able to make it into the theater. They instantly notice Mishima using a Persona and are taken aback.

“Yo Mishima how the hell did you…” Ryuji starts to ask.

“Questions can be asked after we kill these things! Nanako’s still in here!” He yells back. “Someone needs to get her to safety!”

“Right.” Ren nods. “Makoto, get Nanako to the safe zone with the rest of the evacuees. The rest of you, support Mishima! Move out!”

The Phantom Thieves fight off the Shadows in the Theater, but as Makoto tries to lead Nanako out, she keeps pausing to look at the fight.

“Nanako-chan…we need to go. Your big brother will worry…”

“No! I think…I think I can help too! Those monsters…they’re glowing on the inside….” She points, but…Makoto can’t see it.

“I kinda saw something like it in a dream….”

Futaba checks her scanners. “She must be able to see weaknesses like I can, Queen. She probably awakened to a Persona before she was mature enough for one…”

“What color are the glows, Nanako?” Makoto asks.

“That one’s…red!”

Futaba nods. “Ann go!”

Nanako points to another. “And that one’s…white!”

Mishima goes after it with a blessed skill.

Futaba buffs the group. “They’re down! Go ham!”

Ren smirks. “All Out Attack!”

A flurry of strikes hits the shadows from all sides until the die in a unified burst of shadowy mist.

Nanako smiles. “Did I help?”

Mishima nods and places a hand on her shoulder. “Yes you did Nanako, and it was great.”  

The Investigation Team runs up to the group, all ready and prepared to deal with any shadows when they notice they’re all gone.

“Did..did you guys seriously fight them all off?” Yosuke asks, looking around.

Ren nods. “Yeah, seems Yuki awakened to a Persona and managed to defend Nanako…she seems to have one that’s slightly dormant herself….but it’s a support Persona.”

Yu looks at Nanako. “I see…well as long as she’s safe…that’s what matters. But…could this get any worse? Shadows in Inaba..what could be next?”

Suddenly, the Shadow Operatives burst in, each one injured to some degree or another and almost out of breath. Mishima looks shocked as they start to kneel on the ground.

“Whoa! What happened to these guys?”

“…the…TV…that death bringing jerk….he’s strong….and…” Minato can barely speak. “We need to get into the TV…as soon as…”

“No, you all need treatment quick someone heal-” But everyone’s Theif suits vanish. It seems the reach from the meteorite got cut off tempralliy….

“Dammit…we need to treat them and fast…”

Mishima takes a moment to look at everyone around him…several huge celebrates, his friends who he had looked up to as a ray of hope, and some random bear mascot? It’s several minutes before he finally decides to speak again, closely observing the injuries on the Shadow Ops.

“Sorry if I’m being a bit rude, but…why aren’t we rushing these guys to the hospital?” He asks, turning to Yu and Ren. The two just sigh in response.

“You’ll learn in a second, Yuki.” Ren says. At that moment, Yukari and Ken draw their evokers.

“W-Wait…those are guns.”

They both summon their persona to heal everyone, while Mishima is left with jaw dropped and everything. “What the hell?! But I thought you needed-”

“Nope.” Ryuji laughs. “It’s different for different people…er...apparently.”

“Does..does it at least hurt when you guys summon like that?” Mishima asks, still pretty shaken.

“Nope.” Yukari shrugs. “It’s more…symbolic than anything really. Though it is a bit scary the first time you do it…”

Minato stands up, dusting his pants off as he looks to everyone. “We need to head back to the TV World. It seems like our new friend has opened up the remnants of old dungeons within the area and re-purposed them.”

Yosuke sighs. “Really? Ted I thought you said you were gonna tear those down.” He shakes his head, annoyed.

“Sorry Yosuke…it takes a beary long time to do that! And it’s hard with only one person to do it.” Teddie pouts a bit.

“It’s…agh whatever. So what, do we need to clear out each dungeon now?” Yosuke leans up against a wall, arms folded.

The Ops nod. The others look a bit annoyed. Mishima is just…confused however.

“I mean, I have no issue going through a dungeon at all but, we have a newly awakened user here.” Ren points out. “We need to make sure he doesn’t fall behind.”

“If he’s going to be dead weight, then we could always just leave him behind…” Naoto looks at Mishima, who in turn looks down. “But it’s obvious we need as much help as we can get at this point. We can’t risk Adachi-san helping us out again. So…we need to try and get him as up to speed as possible.”

“Are you suggesting we train him for a few days, Naoto?” Yu tilts his head a bit as he asks.

“No, we’re all going to train. It’s clear that our lack of combat on all parts has left us too rusty to deal with a threat like this. Should we hope to get any progress on returning to normalcy, we need to be as on top of our game as humanly possible.”

“I like the idea and all but, isn’t the TV World our only way of training without drawing attention to ourselves. _We_ can’t train in public because of Shido’s cronies.” Ryuji puts his right hand on his hip.

“Ted, you think you can make a training room like you did the quiz show that one time?” Yosuke asks.

“I mean I could try…but we’d need to find somewhere far away to do it in, otherwise we’d be possibly attacked!”

“TV World? Okay you guys have a lot to explain to me. …I might need to add to my documentary…”

After dropping Nanako off back with her dad the group heads to Junes, Mishima taking in the store as they walk as if trying to memorize how everything looks. This was after all, a hub for Persona users. When they arrive to the TV section and go in, the Moon holder is a bit hesitant but after a bit of self assuring he goes in.

“So could I only enter if I had a Persona like you guys or what?” Mishima asks in a whisper as they walk quietly to a safe enough point within the war space.

“You can be let in without one as long as one person has a Persona.” Yosuke shrugs as they walk. “But that’s as much as I’m explaining for now…” He goes quiet, as if reflecting on something serious.

After what felt like hours, the group reaches a point far enough away that Teddie feels safe. “Okay! Step back everyone! I’m gonna make a big one!” With one large foot stomp, a building appears.

Morgana looks impressed, nodding. “Let me guess, you’re limited to what we all know of right?”

“That’s right! If no one’s ever seen something in any form than I can’t make it. It’s limited to just that. …why do you ask?”

“Cognition works in different ways then…”

The group heads in to find the area decked out with targets, training dummies and plenty varieties of punching bags and training weapons. They’re all taken aback by the level of detail.

“Daaaamn, this shit’s totally what we needed last year.” Ryuji laughs as he takes it all in. “So should we go over the basics with our newbie first before we break off to train on our own?”

Minato nods. “Well, we should let Mishima choose who he wants to work with to start off. I’ll warn you ahead of time though, depending on who you pick they might not go easy on you.”  

“Right…let’s see then…” There’s so many people here before him, and while Mishima wants to help he doesn’t seem to know who to ask to be his basics teacher….

Noting how indecisive Mishima was being, Ren puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Need help choosing? Well it’d be easier to pick someone who has your elements and your weaknesses. I checked as we fought and you have both Wind and Bless…meaning you’d need a teacher with those.”  

Morgana laughs. “I can handle wind teaching! If I could teach all of you guys, I can teach one more.” He puffs up his chest big. “But…do any of you have bless skills?”

Minato and Yu start to raise their hands slowly, but Morgana gives them a hard look. “Mishima’d have a hard time following you guys because I don’t think either of you have a Persona that knows bless skills _naturally._ ”

Both of their hands go down completely as the cat shakes his head.

“Well I can’t teach him either because I had Arsene learn bless skills…” Ren leans up against a wall and sighs.

Ken steps forward. “I have bless as well as Zio. I can help him work on both strength and weaknesses.”

Mishima bows politely as Ken and Morgana run him trough a few drills. Within about twenty minutes, he’s able to get basic summoning and energy preserving down.

“You guys made this sound hard. But I think I get it.” Mishima states as he summons Kazama to attack a training dummy.

“Well that’s just phase one, Yuki.” Ken tosses him a training staff which Mishima only barely manages to catch. “If you have nothing to protect yourself at close range then you’re dead meat. Now come at me.” He grabs a staff for himself and twirls it a bit before getting in a fighting stance.

“R-Right!” With that the two spar, Mishima trying his best to match each strike. He seems to know what he’s doing somewhat as he seems to be pretty good at blocking strikes and retaliating.

“Damn…has he been trainin’ in self defence in secret or something? I didn’t think he’d take to this shit that fast.” Ryuji states, smirking as they all watch the sparring match.

“It’s not typical. Mishima seems to be using moves that the Staff user class uses for fighting in ISO Armageddon. He’s prolly only able to mimic it well because of cognition being heavily connected to our Persona.” Futaba responds. “It’s point for point what it is in the game.”

Minato’s eyes light up. “Hm? There’s a new Innocent Sin Online?”  

Mishima manages to knock Ken down with a fast sweeping motion with his staff. “So…uh, how was that?” He puts a hand behind his head.

“That was pretty good. I think we can all train on our own now.” Ren looks around. “We can’t waste too much time after all.”

With that, the three wild cards walk off to a different room within the training facility to train against each other. Akihiko starts to follow after them before Mitsuru stops him.

“It’d be dangerous if we stepped in the ring with all three of them in there.” She sighs. “It’s for the best that they train together anyway…”

Yosuke watches as the door closes. “Last time Yu and Ren fought, they both nearly killed each other. Now we have a third guy like them. How bad is it gonna get?”

As they all train, they each start planning new ways for fighting.

Ryuji is with Yosuke and Junpei in one corner, trying to come up with a way to combine their skills.

“We have Fire, Wind and Lightning…what could we do with that?” Ryuji taps his foot as he thinks.

“We could try to do what Yu does and have our Persona imbue our weapons with our elements and strike.” Yosuke suggests.

“Isn’t his sword an actual sword though?” Ryuji points out. “I don’t think he’s actually imbuing it. I think it’s mostly for intimidation.”

Yosuke blinks, apparently not realizing this fact until just now. “…well…uh..then…”

Junpei snaps his fingers. “We can just rush the enemy from three different angles!” The other two seem to be in agreement, nodding with deep enthusiasm.

More planning is done among the party when an explosion is heard far away before it shakes the area like a mini tremor.

“Training time’s over guys!” Yu yells, coming out. “Someone’s been kidnapped!”

_Okina City, Thirty Minutes From The Kidnapping._

Kou is looking over the civilians, seeing who all is injured and helping out as needed. While still a bit shaken up from the shadow attack, he has a lot more of his composure back.

“Those monster wolf things sure were crazy…where’d they even come from anyhow?” He mutters, looking around at the damaged windows and plant life around the shopping center.

Daisuke, his friend, walks up to where he is and joins him in looking at the damage. “Hard to say, that guy Ryuji never bothered to explain it to us. But do you think he and his pals might have been the Phantom Thieves?”

“What? Don’t be stupid, those guys went off radar for a while now. Plus they’re Phantom Thieves, do you really think they’d just show up late afternoon where they could be easily identified?” Kou rolls his eyes at his friend’s suggestion.

“I mean…you don’t know them personally so how could you claim to know how they operate?” Daiuske retorts.

“I..well. Whatever.” Kou shrugs the whole topic off. “But you know what has me more confused? Yu. We saw him and a lot of the others he used to hang out with run into the area where Ryuji’s friends went. And they had weapons on them. _All of them._ What do you think this means?”

“Maybe we should stop by the blacksmith’s and pick up some weapons for ourselves?” The soccer player suggests. “Or..do you mean something else?”

“Obviously I mean something else. You saw those weird powers, we could barely outrun those things and yet that group of masked teens were blasting them like they were in some sorta RPG.” Kou scratches his head in confusion. “What should we be doing? Watching after the evacuees is important and all…but I kinda feel like we should do more.”

The two begin to talk about possible things they can to, when the sounds of a pack of wolves howling can be heard. The shadows have returned and they located where their prey is.

“Shit! None of those guys are here man. What do we do?” Daisuke is visibly nervous.

“We…we have to try. If we can keep them focused on us long enough for some of the others to get to a more enclosed area, we’ll be okay.” Kou gulps, but stands his ground as he grabs a broken bit of a bench leg to defend himself, Daisuke doing the same.

The shadows growl before dashing at them. Neither of the Strength holders back down however, staying as firmly planted as possible. They needed to buy that time, but for how long could they?

Just then, a pair of gunshots ring out as two members of the Shadow Wolf pack fall limp before dissolving into nothingness.

“Wait..is that…” Kou is looking up at the source, to see two figures with guns still smoking from the shot, the one on the right has a duffel bag on them and seems very familiar to the sports duo. That same one smirks

“Hey kid, if you really want to die this bad you should know there’s better ways of doing it.”

“Touru Adachi…you’re supposed to be locked up. How the hell are you out?!” Kou yells at him.

“Look, I could explain, or you could get the hell out of here. I don’t really care either way, but I have my reasons for being here and it doesn’t involve having a friendly conversation.” He turns back to the shadow pack as he readies to fire again.

His partner, who hasn’t spoken a single word readies their gun as well. They seem just as well trained. Or at the very least well practiced.

Kou however, refuses to back down, running to join the two. “I’ll help! I don’t fully trust you to not just try something.” He gets into a ready stance.

“Are you deaf or stupid?” Adachi glares. “Eh, whatever. Your funeral.”

The shadows go after Adachi and his ally, both of whom fight them off easily…at first. The partner seems to be struggling a bit as they fight.

“Hey, I thought you said you could fight. Or were you just trying to look good?” Adachi seems to be annoyed that he has to pick up his partner’s slack.

“….I told you earlier…I’d need a sword to get the job done efficiently…” They respond, in a hushed voice as if to trying to not be heard by anyone.

Adachi rolls his eyes. “Sure. That toy you had would have done _wonders.”_

In the midst of their arguing however, a wolf manages to grab Kou. He yells out, causing the duo to refocus their efforts on the shadows.

“Tch, we could just shoot the thing and it’d drop the kid.”

“But then we risk the bullet hitting him.” The partner looks at Adachi as if telling him something.

“What? …fine I’ll give you that dumbass sword if you seriously think it’ll actually do something.” Reaching into duffel bag, Adachi pulls out a blood red toy beam sword and hands it to him.

“If you screw this up, don’t come crying to me.”

_The TV World_

A pack of wolf shadows roam the area, dragging unconscious humans in their dripping maws. They split off at a crossroad, bringing their victims into the abandoned dungeons once housing the shadows of the Investigation Team. Among them, is Kou and Daisuke.

Adachi and his new partner failed to free Kou from the shadow and Daisuke was captured trying to save his friend. But the duo had begun their pursuit of the wolf pack. Unbeknownst to them however, they were not the only one’s hot on the trail of the shadows.

“Damn…look at all these shadows.” Kanji looks around. “We’re not even at a dungeon and it’s already lookin’ like we're in the middle of one.”

Morgana sighs. “It seems there’s no safe zone here. We’ll have to fight just to get access.”

“What you’re suggesting is suicide.” Minato crosses his arms. “Look at their numbers, we’d wear ourselves out just trying to get to one entrance. If we want to finish this soon, we need to approach this with caution.”

“We could always just treat it like we’re in a palace.” Ren puts his hands into his pocket. “Try to use the environment to out advantage and only fight as it’s needed.”

Mishima looks around. “Where would we hide though? There’s barely any cover here. All I see are broken TVs and a whole field of rusted weapons.”

Everyone sighs. It seems getting through will be tough, even with an additional number added to their group.

Suddenly, Morgana’s left ear twitches. “Did you guys hear that?”

Ryuji blinks. “Hear what? I didn’t hear-” but a pair of gunshots ring out and interrupt him.

“Guns?” Yu looks to the direction of the sound. “Don’t tell me…”

“Great, if it is him…maybe we could..no. I refuse to ask for his help. I don’t give a damn what he did with the Sho indecent, he still-” Yu puts a hand on Yosuke's shoulder to try to calm him down.

“Well, regardless we should head in the direction of the sound.” Ren suggests. “It might be our best bet at making any sort of progress.”

The group nods and uses the break in formation caused by the gunshots to make their way to the source.

“Hey kid! Didn’t you say you could do something about shadows?! That’d be pretty freaking useful right about now!”

“I don’t know if I still can, damnit! I just now learned about this TV World, I don’t know a damn thing about how it operates!”

The duo seem to be biting off more than they can chew. They’re nearly backed into a corner.

“ **_IZANAGI!_ **”

“ **_ARSENE!_ **”

Curse and Zio magic strike a lot of the pack, causing the duo to look to source. Both are surprised…but Ren is even more shocked to see who Adachi’s partner is.

“Akechi?! But…we thought you died on Shido’s Arc.”

“Do you really think this is the right time do be questioning things, Amamiya?” He draws his sword as his thief suit forms in full. “These things come back in large numbers, if we don’t act fast their hydra effect will kick in again.”

“Uhhhhh…Hydra effect? Yo Futaba, what does he mean?” Ryuji looks to the small hacker.

“It means for every one we cut down, two more will appear so long as others are around. Which means we have to kill all of them and fast.”

“And..how do we go about that exactly?” Chie asks.

The shadows start to close in on them, growling as they prepare to attack. Yu nods to himself. It seems he has a plan up his sleeve.

“Everyone! Summon and attack at once! If we all strike from different points, we can kill enough to get to an entrance!”

“If this fails, we’ll all die Narukami.” Minato states.

“Hey man, if we keep playing it safe we risk innocent lives being lost.” Ren readies himself to summon again. Everyone else following suit.

**_“PERSONA!”_ **


	4. Memento Mori

Heat…and the sound of water moving. Kou starts to open his eyes slowly, only to find himself in a steam filled room. Holding his head and breathing heavily due to the steam, he starts to look around.

“Where…am I?” He suddenly winces and holds his left ankle. It’s hurting like hell, as if he just had a dog bite him. “Ngh!” 

A door slides open on the other side of the room as a humanoid figure starts to walk to Kou. Due to the steam however, it’s hard for the basketball player to tell if it’s friend or foe.  

“You’re awake.” It says, voice echoing through the room as it continues to walk to him. 

“W-who are you?!” He reaches for something to defend himself with, finding a mop to be his only weapon. 

“Come on man, it’s me.” The figure breaks through the steam, revealing it to be Daisuke. Kou gives a relieved look at seeing his friend. Wasn't like he could fight in this condition anyway...

“Were you holed up in that room over there then?” He asks, struggling to stand up with his bite, ultimately sitting back down due to the pain.. 

“Yeah. This place doesn’t look a thing like Amagi…so where did those wolf things bring us?” The two look around and sigh. The heat makes it hard to think straight, so on top of being somewhere they're not used to being, this just adds even more struggles for them.

“It’s too hot in here, it’s obviously a Sauna but…why would we be here?” Kou mumbles, placing a hand on his cheek as the thinks. “Well..we should try to get out of here. Who knows how many of those people got hurt. We need to get back there.”

“But you’re hurt aren’t you? We shouldn’t try to push it.” Daisuke looks at his friends injury with deep concern. 

“There’s a chest right there.” Kou points out the wooden box not too far away from where he woke up. “Maybe it has something in it?”

Walking carefully as to not put too much pressure on his injury, Kou opens it to find medicine and a ball of some sort. The duo seem confused. Why would there be medicine in what was quite obviously a cell?

“Random medicine in a random place….do you think it’s safe?” Daiskue asks as Kou looks it over carefully. 

“It says…apply to injury as needed..results work instantly…” 

“I don’t trust it, that’d mean it’s like…magic medicine. Isn’t that impossible?”

Kou looks at his friend with a tired expression. “We were kidnapped by shadowy wolf monsters, dragged to a crazy sauna and we found out that a bunch of people we went to high school with might have some sort of supernatural powers. I’m willing to trust a lot more crazy crap right now.”

With that, he applies the medicine to his injury as it heals, the only evidence of the injury ever occurring was the scar left behind. The duo just had to make their escape now.

“What would be the best way to break out of here, man?”  Kou is already picking up the mop again, leaving Daisuke confused. “Uh, did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I did. But all these doors are super weak right? If we can break them down, then we can break outta here.” He readies his mop to throw it like a Javelin. 

With careful aim he throws it…only to miss his target entirely. 

“Why don’t you try the ball?” Daisuke throws it to him and Kou catches it with one hand. 

“Worth a shot, I guess..” Again with careful aim, he throws the ball and it crashes through the door with ease, giving them access to a hallway.

“YES!” 

“Let’s hang on to this ball, it might be a better weapon then that lame ass mop.” 

The two make their way through the Sauna, hiding from shadows patrolling the area as they go along. But the way to the ground floor from where they were was going to be a long trek, especially since the heat of the sauna was getting to them both..

Elsewhere in the TV World, a hold up is taking place. Ren has Akechi at gunpoint as the other members of his group stand with them, ready to back him up. 

“Talk. Why are you here, and how the hell did you make it out of Shido’s Palace?” Ren’s eyes are intense and serious, a stark contrast to his normal cocky mannerisms as Joker. 

Akechi returns the demand with a small sigh, pulling back enough of his shirt to reveal several gunshot wounds. The other thieves gasp a bit, realizing what this meant..

Naoto looks closely, and her eyebrows raise a bit. “These shots all missed the heart by a very small margin…. You were lucky to have survived.”

“Exactly. I was all prepared to die at that moment, but somehow…someway..I didn’t.” He fixes his shirt as he speaks, sounding a bit reflective as he goes. 

Mishima wavers a bit, unsure if he should lower his weapon or not. “So you survived  several gunshots, yet you didn’t make your appearance back in Tokyo? Your testimony could have prevented Ren from being arrested again, you know!”

“Had I made my status of being alive public, I would have been hunted down and killed before I could testify against Shido, I hope you all realize this.” Akechi shakes his head. 

“…lower your weapons everyone.” Ren sighs.

“Well, if this scary as shit interrogation session is over, can we move on to our first dungeon?” Yosuke asks. “Yo Rise, have you pinpointed anyone in any of them yet that seem to be alive?” 

“Yes actually.” She responds, her persona already in use to track movement. 

“Awesome! Which one?” The brunette leans in to heat.

“The Sauna.” 

The color from Yosuke’s face drains…as does Yu and Kanji. None of them look too keen on heading back in there after their initial experience.

“Ahaha…on second thought…Ren is there anything else you need to question Akechi on? I don’t mind if we-” 

“Oh will you just grow a pair?” Adachi rolls his eyes. 

Minato sighs, shaking his head. “Let’s just go. Be prepared to be in there for a long time everyone…” 

The group moves out, immediately greeted by the heat and steam. Despite most being dressed appropriately for this venture, it's still a struggle to get thought it all They all have trouble navigating the area, eventually getting themselves lost.

“Yo, didn’t you all like…go through this shit already? Why the hell are we lost then?!” Ryuji quietly yells, clearly pissed off by the sweltering heat of the area. 

“One: this place brings back uncomfortable memories, Two: it’s been a few years, and Three: this place changes it’s layout every time!” Yosuke responds at the same volume.

“Hmm…so it’s like Mementos…” Ren nods as he looks around, placing a hand on a wooden beam to catch his breath. 

But as the group tries to get their bearings, a shadow roars nearby that echos through out the floor. 

“Yeah, take this!” 

Yu looks up to the source of the voices. “Is that…Kou?” Yu draws his Katana from it’s seethe. “Let’s move!” 

The group runs to the source, finding Kou and Daisuke fighting eight shadows…but they both look worn out from the overexertion and the heat. Faces flushed, but not refusing to back down, they're cornered...and it doesn't seem like they're going to win this encounter.

“Yu? How…did you get here?” Kou asks, clearly close to dropping as he leans up against the closest wall to him. 

“It’s a long story but, why don’t you take five? We’ll take over from here.” With that the Shadows engage the Persona users in combat. 

The sports duo watches as they all fight, amazed when Yu summons Izanagi to cut through a shadow with ease. They both are trying their best to watch the fight, but struggle to do so due to the heat of the area.

“Man…these guys act like this is nothing…” Daisuke observes, faintly nodding. “How’d they even get these powers huh?” 

Akechi cuts clean through a shadow with his sword. “Please, these shadows aren’t even worth my time.” He shakes off his sword as if to clean the shadow's essence from it.

“Yo Crow! Why don’t you try to take control of a shadow?” Ryuji calls out, blocking a few strikes.

“I can try…COME, LOKI!” He attempts to take control of a shadow, but suddenly grabs his chest in pain, coughing up a small amount of blood from just simply trying. “Ngh! W-What the hell?” 

Mishima shakes his head. “Seems he can’t for some reason.” The new persona user fires a shot at a shadow, missing it. "Oh crap!"

“We don’t have time to rely on abilities that aren’t instant. We’re running the risk of losing our civilians here!” Mitsuru states, parrying a shadow's aattack. “Just keep fighting the old fashioned way and we’ll be fine.”

The fighting rages on, with more Shadows appearing to assist along the way, getting stronger and stronger each time. The Hydra effect seems to have returned once again..

“This isn’t getting us anywhere!” Ren dropkicks a shadow in annoyance. “What can we do to speed this up?!”

Yu suddenly has an idea. “Ren, Minato…remember our sparring match earlier?” The other two look to him as he smirks, returning the expression. 

“We’re in a tight area…so this could be risky…but let’s try it.” Minato laughs a bit, cracking his knuckles in preparation. 

The trio begin to summon their main Persona at the same time.

“ **_Orpheus!”_ **

**_“Izanagi!”_ **

**_“Arsene!”_ **

At once, Fire lightning and curse fuse into one attack, striking the shadows down and paralyzing them. This leaves them open for additional attacks by the rest but laves the trio worn out from just casting.

“I’ll be damned…seems you kids aren’t useless after all.” Adachi laughs as he finishes a few shadows off. 

Soon the hallway is shadow free. But Kou and Daisuke passed out during the conflict. Mishima runs to them and checks them, looking for any sort of injuries. He's focused, looking at any places that might be possibly infected or damaged.

“Are they…okay Yuki?” Yosuke asks, kneeling down beside them.

“Heat exhaustion…who knows how long they’ve been in here. Fighting..running…it’d tire anyone out in these conditions.” He tries to lift Kou up and manages to, just barely. 

“We’ll need to get them somewhere safe to treat them…” Naoto states. “The training hall is the only safe place we have however….” 

“We’ll need to make that our home base for now…” Makoto sighs, standing near Akihiko as he lifts Daisuke up. 

“Mona? Can you be our transport back?” Ren asks, kneeling down to the furry Magician. 

The cat simply nods in response as they all start to head out of the steamy bathhouse. 

But a presence is following them as they head out. Minato looks behind himself briefly, as he hears a voice whisper through the steamy area.

“….”

The group is all packed into the Mona bus, which has taken a much larger shape due to the amount of people. It’s now a huge target for Shadows but they didn’t have the time to find a better means of transport. While Ren drives, Mishima and Akihiko watch over the two passed out Strength holders.

Yu sighs. “Out of everyone…why did it have to be them…” The fool shakes his head, regretful that some of his friends outside of his team had be caught up in all of this. 

Yosuke nods “Yeah…they were in Okina right?”

“They were in the city when the shadows attacked earlier, they must have stayed in the area afterwards…” Ryuji sounds slightly frustrated that they stayed behind. “But damn…shadows in our world…this one being screwed up…what’s going on?”

Akechi looks up from polishing his gun. “Well…you all filled me in on the Yaladaboth problem, perhaps this one is of the same nature?”

Naoto nods, thinking to herself. “That seems like the only possible answer..but we haven’t seen the master mind since it tried to kill Ren…”

“Uh..guys?” Mishima suddenly sounds worried. “There’s a huge ghost figure following us!”

Scraping is heard at a fast pace as the figrure starts to come into view. Shadows part like a crowd for a celebrity as it gains on the group.

“Damnit!” Ren mutters, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “I’m gonna pick up speed, make sure those two don’t go bumping around!”

The Mona bus accelerates, causing everyone in the car to hang on to dear life, screaming. The Death Bringer gives chase, keeping pace with the car with ease.

“What’re we gonna do Sensei?!” Teddie flails, looking out the back window. 

“We need to ward him off somehow…” Yu thinks, putting a hand on his cheek as he starts to think of an approach to get the spirit off their tail. 

Suddenly, before anyone else can say something,  Minato rises and starts to mess with the sun roof. 

“Dude! What the hell are you doin’?” Kanji yells, grabbing the short fool by the leg. “You tryin’ to get us killed?!”

“He said we need to ward him off right? I can do it.” Minato smiles, full confidence written all over his face as he shakes his leg free of Kanji's grip.

Ren grumbles a bit, eyes dead focused on the road ahead. “We have about ten more minutes before we reach the safe zone, can you hold him off for that long?”

“Yeah.” With that, Minato climbs to the roof, keeping a firm grip on the door to stay on as he summons his Persona. 

“He’s actually doing it…is he always like this Mitsuru-san?” Yosuke asks, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Headstrong? Risk taking? Yes.” She looks up at the roof as Minato sends out attack after attack at their pursuer. “He used to be so closed off, only doing things because he was told to. But, then he found out that he actually cared for us…the rest is history..”

The ghostly figure wails as it’s attacked, it's screams echoing through out the surrounding area. 

“Two minutes! We’re almost there!” Ren calls out, leaning forward as he starts to brace for a sudden stop.

“Minato! You need to do something big! If we’re lucky, it’ll give up!” Akechi calls out, barely getting a grip on the seat. 

“Right…” With that, he summons Messiah and delivers a God’s Hand right to the death bringer,  just in time for Ren to come to a screeching stop at the training area. Dust kicks up everywhere around them from the tires, and Morgana loudly sighs due to the amonut of dirt on him now thanks to that.

Everyone hurries in, carrying Kou and Daisuke in and laying them on the carpeted ground of the lobby area. They do another check on the duo, making sure they still have a pulse.

“Is he gone?” Mishima asks, looking out a window nervously. 

“Seems like it…” Ren responds, grabbing water bottles for the duo for when they come to. 

Everyone gives a sigh of relief. That chase was too close for comfort...

“You know..we could have fought him outright right then?” Adachi points out, sitting in a chair. 

“We’re aware, but there’s still more hostages and we already have these two with us.” Yu points to Kou and Daisuke, who are still out cold. "Something tells me we wouldn't have been able to do much anyhow. And if we could, who knows what the cost to us would be?"

“Hey, wasn’t Kou studying abroad?” Chie points out.

Yu and Yosuke nod. Looking him over, Kou was definitely wearing some more western styled clothing with that plain buttoned up blue shirt.

“And these two are hanging out together, still as close as always.” Yukiko adds, giggling a bit. 

“Hey…you don’t think they’re…” But before Yosuke can finish his sentence, the two wake up slowly. 

“Ngh…where are we now?” Kou holds his head, looking around seeing everyone standing around him. “You guys…” 

Daisuke looks around. “Where is this…? Are we back in the city?” 

Ryuji shakes his head. “Nope, but this place is shadow free. You’re both safe here.” He gives them a toothy grin.

As the others start to fill in Kou and Daisuke on what’s going on, Minato leans up against a wall…holding his chest as he starts to breathe heavily. 

“Damnit…what’s going on?”

Clutching his chest tightly, the blue haired fool walks quietly to the bathroom. His breathing is shaky..chest tight like it’s in a knot. But he couldn’t let his friends know, last thing they needed to do was worry over him again.

“Hah…” He turns on the sink, splashing cold water on his face in an effort to try to focus. His arms shake as he places his hands on either side of the marble fount. He then looks up at the mirror.

But what he sees isn’t his reflection, but that off the hooded spirit. He smirks wildly before taking on another appearance more familiar…that of Ryoji. 

“So…this the face of the person you hold the most regret for losing?” He laughs, the tone wicked and unfeeling. “Pitiful. He brought nothing but pain to your world and you still consider him a friend?”

“Stop…”

“Why should I, human? It’s not like your life is your own anymore.” The spirit gives a mocking smile, much like how Ryoji would before bursting out in manic laughter.

“Do not mock my friends.” Minato growls, drawing his Evoker. 

“Friends? A corpse needs not companionship. It only needs to lay down and  _ rot. _ ” He extends his hand and closes it, causing the pain in Minato’s chest to worsen and the Evoker to drop from his hand with a loud echoing clatter.

“AGH!” He covers his mouth, coughing up some blood as he stares back hard at the spirit, who has now shed his mocking appearance of Ryoji. 

“You are among the sinful. Judgement was brought down upon humanity, and you stood against it. For that, I must now pass on the punishment.” The mirror ripples as Deathbringer's clawed hand reaches out, chains following it like tendrils. 

“You think I’ll back down easy?” Minato responds with weak confidence, voice showing signs of how much pain he’s in. 

“Return to the Sea where you belong lost lamb!” He grabs Minato’s face, claws scraping his cheeks causing them to bleed. With his other hand, his scythe appears. Wicked in design, the scythe’s most prominent feature is the pure black stone near it’s blade. It begins to glow a sickening grey color…and Minato’s screams echo throughout the area as he’s pulled into the mirror headfirst. 

He finds himself in the warscape of the TV World, various civilians trapped in chained nets begging for release. Minato tries to take a step towards one of them, only to feel chains at his ankles keeping him in place. 

“What…?” He tugs at them, but no matter how much he tires he cannot free himself. He starts to feel the pain in his chest once more, kneeling down he holds it. 

Footsteps echo, silencing the cries of the trapped as if it were a stage cue. Minato’s heavy breathing synchronizes with that of the steps, raising his head to the source he finds a young man in what appears to be a old school uniform with tears all over, before it seems to glitch and alter to that of Gekkoukan in a shadowy mist. His hair is long, with it being swept to one side. He laughs as Minato stares at him confused.

“Do I….know you?”

“Haha, foolish corpse. You know not of me.” He gives him a crazed smile. “Those who die should never rise. This…is your punishment.” Once again the scythe appears, Minato finally realizing what’s going on..

The cries for help sound once again…but the fool can now recognize it as the cries of his friends. Pleading for his aide, calling out for anyone to free them. The cries are loud and reach to his ears faster and faster. 

Minato struggles to get out of the chains, but as he tries to pull them off again…his wrists are  suddenly chained up as well. “Let them go!!!” He cries out, tears forming in his eyes. “Please!” 

The spirit simply laughs, raising his free hand as the chains start to retract…pulling Minato farther and farther away from his friends as he all but seemingly…abandons them once more. 

 

Footsteps approach the Bathroom…the others having heard Minato’s cries find him knelt in the center of the room…eyes pure black as he cries out to his friends…apologizing for not being able to save them.

Ren tries his best to shake Minato, but no matter what he does…he can’t get a response out of him. “Come on…come on…” He pleads. The air in the tiled room is thick with worry and confusion. 

Among Minato’s repeated apologies and pleas for forgiveness, Futaba types away on her laptop with Naoto and Akechi looking over her shoulders. Ryuji, exasperated by the fact that the trio isn’t showing any concern for the maddened fool, walks over to them.

“Hey! We could use your help here you know.” The Skull masked thief exclaims, placing a hand on his hip. 

“Bingo. I think I know what might be up.” Futaba smiles big and turns her laptop for all to see. On it, a page in English is displayed detailing information about a book. Ryuji lowers his head over the fact that he can’t read it. 

“The Black Stone?” Ann points to the name as she reads it aloud. “What does this have to do with Minato though, Futaba-chan?”

Futaba pushes up her glasses as she sighs. “A lot. So you know that how everything to do with the cognitive world, Personas, shadows and everything all comes down to what humanity knows and sees?”

“Uh..yeah? Why bring this up now though?” Kanji leans up against a wall. 

“Well that’s the reason why most Persona are things we know from myths or books. Like how all of Yu’s team’s Persona are some sorta god or historical figure. And like how everyone in my groups are all some sorta trickster. Well this could even tie into how Shadows function.” Futaba explains, adjusting her glasses as she speaks.

Naoto nods. “Futaba’s hypothesis is that our Death Bringer friend has Lovecraftian type skills. More to the point, ones much like that of The Black Stone.”

The group is quiet, some understanding the meaning while others are confused by the matter. Yosuke looks up finally with reluctant curiosity. 

“So, this…Lovecraft thing. How do most of these things end?” The brunette magician asks. 

“They almost always end poorly for humans or humanity as a whole.” Akechi states bluntly, which makes Yosuke gulp. “However, given how this is not a Lovecraft book, I would think we could pull Minato out of this trance.”

“That’s easier said than done though…” Yu looks over at Minato. “We’ve been at this for forty minutes but nothing we’ve tried has worked…what options do we have available to us?”

“There’s always the Velvet Room.” Ren suggests, standing up from his knelt position by his fellow fool. “If he’s in any sort of sleeping state, there’s always the chance Igor is trying to pull him out of it himself.” 

Yu smiles and nods. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Futaba looks at them both with a stern expression. “No goofing off while in there okay? If this works anything like The Black Stone, after a certain amount of time being driven to madness by it…the victim dies. I have no clue how long we have until that possibly happens, so you’re on an invisible timer.”

“Got it.” The two fools respond. And with that, they both head to the Velvet Room which to the others baring Aigis and Akechi…looks like they are simply zoning out. 

But from the doorway entrance of the bathroom, a curious Kou and Daisuke watch on with curiously. 

 

Arriving in the Velvet Room, Yu and Ren notice the broken elevator is now clouded in dark mist. The attendants are hard at work trying their best to break though it but none of them seem to be able to, even with their combined efforts. 

“Margret, what’s going on?” Yu asks his attendant with concern pouring in his voice. Margret turns to look at him with a saddened expression not normally seen on her. 

“Minato, he has fallen under that spirits spell. And I’m afraid even when I and my siblings combine our strength we cannot overcome it…. “ 

Igor lowers his head in thought. “Yu, Ren…your coming here shows me that you both think to aide your fellow Wild Card within the Room correct?” He chuckles. “Perhaps if you both attack his door with the combined prowess of The World, it may just open.” 

“You sound unsure, Igor…” Ren points out, getting ready to summon nonetheless. 

“Such an event has never transpired thus far, this is a new experience for us all. It is all the more interesting because of this, however.” 

“Well Futaba said not to waste time, we need to act now.” With that, both Fools prepare their ultimate Persona

“IZANAGI-NO-OKAMI!”

“SATANAEL!” 

Both Persona strike fast, hard and repeatedly at the door, aiding the Attendants as they all push to break the seal blocking them from Minato. The mist slowly starts to crack as if it were glass, bursting dramatically after enough force is brought upon it. 

Theodore and Elizabeth celebrate their achievement, but Margret holds up her hand. “This is far from being over, dear siblings. Should it be so, he would have come out of his door.” The two lower their heads.

Ren looks to Lavenza with a serious expression. “Lavenza..is it possible that Yu and I can enter his door?”

She thinks for a moment before returning his look. “Yes, but the risk is high and should only be done if all three of you are within the same realm in the real world.”

“That shouldn’t be an issue for us then. But what about the general risks?” Yu asks, tilting his head in question much like a dog would. 

“The mind is fragile, Wild Card or not, you all are still human, thus too many minds within one could damage it.” Margret states. “But seeing as you both need to pull Minato into the Room, there’s no other option left…”

Ren and Yu look at each other, worried looks are exchanged between the two…could this really be the solution? Are there no other options? 

_ Meanwhile, at the Dojima Residence _

Nanako is looking at her turned off TV in her room with a confused look. “Huh? Is that Big Bro’s friends I hear? But…I lost the remote….” The small girl puts a hand on her cheek as she thinks. “Big Bro said not to risk getting hurt…then he told Daddy something….but those monsters are hurting people…” 

She sighs. Perhaps she should just go to bed….

 

As Nanoko sleeps…she has a strange dream. Her Big Bro…and two of his new friends are trying to fight off a hoard of monsters. But they seem to be losing badly. It’s not long before all three of them become chained to a wall by some sort of monster man. The area is shrouded in deep red mist, with a lot more monsters peeking out from within it’s shroud. But…she can’t do anything…all she can do is watch. 

This event is being played out in real time…Yu and Ren are struggling, chains rattling as they try their hardest to summon their Persona. 

“Minato! You need to snap out of this!” Yu calls out, screaming as the chains start to tighten around his chest. “This isn’t real! It’s all in your head!” His voice is weak as it becomes harder to breathe, the evidence of this is shown in his real body back with the others.

“I couldn’t save them…why did I even come back…all I did was put them in danger…” Yu’s words aren’t getting through to the blue haired fool. He doesn’t struggle, as if he’s finally starting to accept his fate.

“Goddammit! I’m not letting this end here, no way in hell!” Ren tries his hardest to break free, but he can’t. But then…his gun falls out of his coat. And a light-bulb goes off in his head. “That’s it! These stupid boots are good for something…” With that, Ren carefully reaches for the trigger with his right foot…should he be able to fire a shot, it could hit his chains and allow him to free the others…if it doesn’t ricochet that is..

“Careful, Joker…” Yu breathes. “One misfire and…” But as he tries to speak, the chains tighten once again. “NGH!” It’s becoming even harder for Yu to breathe, he’s close to passing out at this point. 

“BIG BRO!” Nanako reaches her hand out, but she still can’t touch him…but somehow…The Justice arcana card appears before Yu. Was it her desire to save him? 

Yu looks at the card as it floats before him, unable to speak he silently looks to Ren as if telling him to shoot the card. 

“Please tell me you’re not serious, if the bullet hits you…that’s it!”

Yu’s expression hardens, and Ren grants a sigh of acknowledgement. This was their only chance after all… Kicking the pistol up in the air he balances it on one foot and takes as careful aim as he can..

“I saw this in the movies once…and if cognition allows us to mimic what we envision then…I should be able to just…” He fires, shattering the card and sending forth the Persona within:  Sraosha. It uses Brave Blade, freeing Yu. 

“Thank god…” Yu smiles, sending Sraosha to free the other two. With all three freed, all that was left is to snap Minato out of this trance. 

“I have a feeling we don’t have much time man.” Ren states as he bends down to grab his gun. “What should we do to snap him out of it? Words aren’t doing much…” 

Minato is making no moves to fight back as Shadows start to close in on the trio. Yu starts to think, before he realizes something that should have been obvious from the start. 

“Ren, when your teammates are hit with any sort of ailment, what do you normally do?” 

“Slap the crap outta them, why? …waiiiit.” 

“If this is caused by a shadow, then it should be able to be cured like any other ailment.” Yu smirks, placing his hand on his sword as he prepares to fight.

Ren nods, and goes to snap Minato out of it…but instead of slapping him he decks him square in the face. Yu is stunned, that wasn't at all what he meant the younger Persona user to do.

“Ngh!” Minato rubs his cheek. “What the hell….” 

“I thought you said slap.” Yu shakes his head with slight annoyance in his voice. 

“Look I’m not the one who normally does it okay? It’s the others!” Ren blushes a bit. He then looks over at Minato, who seems to be out of his trance. 

“Okay…where are we now exactly?” He asks, looking around. “There’s a whole bunch of Shadows…but it’s just us three…”

“Long story short, ol’ Deathy got you under a spell. I’m thinking if we kill these shadows…the spell will be done for. ...in theory.” Joker twirls his gun as he readies to attack. 

“You able to fight?” Yu asks with concern in his voice. 

“Of course, if we need to kill these things…then lets do it as a team.” With that, all three Persona users ready themselves…this was the final push to break Minato out of this…

Evoker fires, Tarot Card shatters and a mask fades into flames in perfect unison as their Ultimate Persona stand before the hoard of Shadows before them.

“This is all in my head right? Well then let’s show them who the real master of this realm is. GO!” With that, Minato charges as Messiah follows behind him. 

Yu and Ren follow closely, killing off any and all stragglers left behind by Minato’s rampage. The cries and wails of felled Shadows grow in volume until the whole area is seemingly covered in the dying breath of the creatures. They couldn't loose, not while Minato was back in control. The way they fight together, it felt like...they had done this before. But they just met, so how could they be so in sync? 

Death Bringer himself has seemingly left during the carnage…and the hellscape around them seems to fade away slowly from the Fool's victory.

Nanako giggles. “Good job Big Bro! I knew you could do it!” 

Yu looks around, he could have sworn he heard Nanako speak…but he can’t see her anywhere. He shrugs and smiles. “You were the biggest help, Nanako…had that card not appeared…well..” 

With that, the Wild Card trio leave Minato’s head as well as the Velvet Room….waking back up in the bathroom to their anxious teammates huddled all around them. 

“You guys…seriously did it….” Mishima states, completely stunned yet relieved.

 

 


	5. The All Consuming Castle

With everyone now gathered, the group sets up a whole line of tables in the rec room to begin planning their next move. 

“Alright, so we have several more dungeons to go into.” Yosuke informs the group, taking out a note pad with a rough sketch of locations within the TV. “The Castle, The Lab, The Shopping District, The…Strip Club, Void Quest, Heaven, and the Forest.” 

“There’s also Magatsu, kid. But that place is crawling with Reapers.” Adachi smirks as he points out where it should be on the map, Hanamura doesn’t seem too pleased however. 

“If one of those is a Reaper hive, it would be risky to try to shake it.” Minato states, hands cupping his cheeks as he thinks. “But perhaps our friend knows this…” 

Everyone goes quiet. 

“Well…he was smart enough to get into your head Minato. So who’s to say he won’t try again?” Yukari points out, worry in her tone. “Any of us could be targeted….”

“She has a point.” Akechi nods. “We need to approach this with the utmost caution. But I want to bring up the Reaper Hive again. If Death Bringer has control over this area and it’s shadows…it could very well mean that he can send the whole armada at us should he choose..”

“We never really did anything in the bathhouse other than getting Kou and Daisuke out. Maybe we need to cut his control somehow? But what would that entail?” Yu thinks aloud, leaning his right cheek against his right hand.

“I never detected any sort of device in the Bathhouse, Senpai.” Rise states. “I’d think it might just come down to killing him.”

Ryuji snaps his fingers. “Dude that space rock! Wasn’t it the reason why Shadows were appearing in our world?” 

Futaba gasps. “You’re right! Wonder if it has some sort of connection? Hmmm…” Futaba looks over to Kou and Daisuke who are busy talking. “Hey! You two!”

Kou looks up. “Hm? What’s up?” He stands up from his spot on the floor. 

“Before you both went to the city, what did you both do?” Oracle questions. 

“We went to go check out the Meteor. It’s not every day one crashes this close to home so we just had to go see it.” Daisuke responds. “But..what does this have to do with what you all are talking about?” 

Futaba starts typing something up on her laptop before stopping. “Were you both the only two at the site?” 

Kou shakes his head. “No, there were a few others. Mostly other locals.”

Ren looks over Futaba’s shoulder as she keeps typing, nodding as she goes. 

“I see. Could you provide names of the others at the site?” She asks.

“Yeah, sure. Aside from us there was…Naoki Konishi, Yumi Ozawa  and Ai Ebihara. There were others there too, but they weren’t from around here.” Kou relays, thinking hard as he tries to recall. “Although there was a kid with a kinda scary looking guy for a dad…”

“…Iwai?” Ren asks, taking a guess as to who this man’s identity could be. 

“Again I didn’t know them myself so I couldn’t tell you.” Kou looks to Ren as he speaks. 

Futaba is typing away, super focused. Naoto is paying close attention to what she types this time, nodding as something apparently helpful comes up. 

The orange haired teen looks up to Kou one last time. “Okay, last question. Did all of you touch the meteor?”

“Yeah. It’s a rare chance to get to so why not right? But…all of us shared the same statement…it felt ice cold. Like it was pulled straight out of the fridge.”

Yu perks up to that statement. “You said cold right? That’s the opposite of what I felt when I came into contact with it. It was warm, as if it had an inner heating source…”

“Hmm..would this count as a contradiction?” Akechi asks, leaning back in his seat. “Or is there something else going on here?” 

Minato looks to Yu with a serious expression. “Narukami, those people Kou mentioned…did you form bonds with them?” 

Yu responds with a nod before pausing and realizing what this could mean. 

“This Meteor is probably his way of seeking out people close to us…Nanako-chan was targeted remember?” 

Mishima perks up. “But, I was too. Or was that just because I was protecting her?”

“That all depends on one thing. Ren? Did you come in contact with the Meteor?” Minato asks, everyone turning to him to see what his response is. 

“…yeah. I did. Right before my group headed to the city to investigate, I went to check out the Meteor. It felt hot to the touch to me as well.” He sighs, lowering his head in shame. 

Futaba looks to everyone, smirking. “Okay! I think I have something down now. This meteor is connected to our big bad, and is trying to target people who have close ties with our leaders. But why, is the question.” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Adachi sighs. “The guy’s using them as bait. Holding people hostage in an attempt to get something outta you.” 

Mitsuru nods in agreement. “That could very well be the case. He wants Minato, Yu and Ren to do something…so he’s holding innocents hostage in order to get it.” 

“Judging by what happened to me, I’d say he wants to purge us for what we did on our Journeys.” Minato taps his fingers on the table as he talks. “But since I managed to escape…he might use different ways of getting to us…” 

Makoto nods. “I suggest we proceed with caution from this point onward then.”

"Let's make our first stop at Yukiko's Castle." Rise states, her persona out and scanning. "I can for sure say that there's someone there."

The team then heads out without any more hesitation.

The group arrives at the castle. Unlike the Bathhouse before, the atmosphere feels totally different. Almost as if it was haunted. They look among themselves, some are determined to head straight in while others are a bit hesitant. 

“Th-This creepy atmosphere is giving me horror movie vibes!” Chie is shaken a bit. 

“Y-Yeah…maybe some of us should just stay out here on standby?” Makoto adds, just as shaken as she clings to Ren.

Yosuke and Ryuji both shake their heads in annoyance before the magician sighs. “Weren’t you the one who said we had to be more alert, Makoto? This means we have to stick together. Same to you Chie, I know you hate horror stuff but we have to do this. Who knows who could be trapped in here.” 

“I’m with him, now come on! The faster we bust through this joint the better!” Ryuji looks fired up, bumping his fists together to hype himself up. 

With that out of the way, the Persona users walk into the dungeon proper. Normally, this place would be lit and filled with weak shadows. But instead…the whole dungeon is silent and dim. Only the sounds of their own breathing and footsteps provided any sort of white noise to the unnaturally quiet tower.

“Well…at least we aren’t being boiled like eggs right?” Junpei chuckles, trying his best to lighten the mood a bit. 

“True, I do enjoy the change in pace. Any longer in that bathhouse and I would have surely passed out myself…” Yusuke adds. The tense air seems to have lessened a bit as a few members of the group laugh. 

Suddenly Adachi pauses. “…”

Yosuke hardens his look at the dick. “Why did you stop so suddenly?” He asks in a distrusting tone. 

“There’s something around the corner, I saw it move.” He responds. “We may not be alone after all…”

“Sure, and I’m Jack Frost.” The brunette rolls his eyes. “Look you’re gonna have to try harder than that to trick me.”

“What good would tricking you do?” 

“Look, I don’t give a damn about you helping us back with Sho. Just because you did that one time doesn’t mean I completely trust you. People still died because of your shitty actions!” Yosuke seems to have been trying his hardest not to blow up since Adachi joined up with them. 

“Hanamura, this isn’t the best time to be doing this.” Akechi states. “We don’t even know if the enemy is trying to waiting in ambush or not.” 

Youske rolls his eyes. “If you two are so damn set on me walking into a trap then just say so!” With that he rounds a corner.

“Is he an idiot?!” Adachi echos. 

“Ha, there’s nothing here but a wall.” Yosuke leans up against the wall as the others join him. 

“So…we got worked up for nothing?” Ryuji tilts his head in confusion. 

“Seems so…” Minato nods, looking around the area just to be safe. 

Yosuke laughs, as if he knew it all from the start. “See? There’s nothing here! Probably no shadows too. It’s completely saf-” But just then, two shadowy hands emerge from the wall, grabbing Yosuke’s face before pulling him in as he screams. 

“YOUSKE!” Yu tries to go into the wall himself but is unable to. “Damnit!” He punches the wall in desperation, but it of course does nothing.

“Nothing to worry about he says…this place turned into a haunted castle. With all the horror movie tropes along with it. The idiots always go first.” Futaba sighs. 

“Uh, if that were the case then Junpei would already be gone.” Yukari states, holding her right arm in thought. “It’s targeting people…”

“Well as long as we stick together we should all be fi-” Ren looks around. “Uh…where did Yu go?” 

The group all looks around them…only to see he has indeed separated from them. This can’t be good…

Brick walls become nothing but a blur in Yu’s vision as he runs though the long hallways of the dim castle. He had to find a room, any room that could connect to the wall his partner was pulled through. His heart beats fast as adrenaline puts his body on auto pilot.

After what felt like eternity to him, he finally finds a door. Kicking it open, he’s greeted by a sight worse then he could have anticipated. Yosuke is indeed there, but against a steel beam with chains tying him to it as if he was ready to be sacrificed in some sort of arcane rite. Behind the beam looms the Death Bringer, laughing once he makes eye contact with Narukami. 

“You made it so easy, Truth seeker. The last one required a lot of toying but all I had to do was take your closest friend and you come running like a panicked pup.” He snarls, a mocking tone inflecting his words. 

“Let him go..” Yu draws his sword as his expression becomes intense and serious. 

But as he tries to intimidate his friend’s captor, Death Bringer lowers the blade to line up perfectly with Yosuke’s neck. “While you Wild Cards are my main targets…I have no qualms with killing those who have aided. Make one more move and I will show you what true fear in humans looks like.” 

Yosuke struggles to get out of the chains, desperately trying to free himself to no avail. 

Yu lowers his sword, looking down to the floor. “What..do you want from me then?” 

“Yu, what the hell are you doing?! You’re not seriously giving in are you?!” Yosuke shouts. “Think man! We can figure out another-” 

“SILENCE.” The scythe is brought closer to his neck, with the blade only being a few inches away from making contact with his skin.

The spirit looks to Yu, smirking from under his hood. “If you wish for your friend to live, then all you must simply do is give in to the stone. Allow it to seek your punishment for the sin of clearing the fog of humanity.” 

Yu is silent. Accepting this would mean he would have to admit that the truth he fought for was all falsehoods. But even if it’s through clenched teeth, he’d be saving his best friend.

“Yu, don’t do it! Please!” Yosuke struggles even harder. He doesn’t want to be the reason he gets hurt. Or have the guilt of another death on his shoulders. But all he can do is watch…

Back with the rest of the group, they have seemed to have triggered a trap as spiked walls on either side of them start to close in. 

“Damnit Ryuji! You just had to flip that switch!” Chie bemoans, preparing to fight back against the walls. “You could have just…I don’t know…walked past it?” 

“Uh but who was the person who said to flip it? Oh that’s right,  _ it was you. S _ o don’t go blaming me for your dumbass idea!” Ryuji barks back. 

“You could have just said no, Sakomoto. It’s not hard..” Akechi shakes his head. “But more importantly, how does one stop these slow moving walls?”

“Ooh! Ooh! In The Legend of Gelda, you use a fire spell to burn away a spike trap in one dungeon! Maybe it’s like that?” Futaba tries, sounding confident in her idea. 

“I mean, these are wooden after all..it’s worth a shot….” Junpei nods. “Hey Ann-chan, Yukio. You both gonna back me up?”

“We’ll both take this side, you take that right one.” Ann states. 

With that, the trio manage to burn away the spike trap to nothing but ashes. Ren brushes off some of the ashes on his coat before looking around. 

“Seems like that’s all the traps for now…and yet still no sign of either Yu or Yosuke.” Joker sighs, drawing his gun for extra protection. “Did we take a wrong turn?” 

Fuuka shakes her head. “We shouldn’t have. The only answer would be that the room shifts somehow but with three navigators one of us should have picked up on that by now…” 

“Unless the traps didn’t trigger for Yu since he’s probably the one our friend wants…” As Rise states this, the others look at each other. Given what they had talked about before, this made the most sense.

Minato’s face furrows. “We need to hurry. Stay on your toes, and don’t touch anything suspicious without looking around you first.” 

“Right, so lets press on.” Akechi starts to move forward as if he’s suddenly leading the group….only to fall through a trap door almost instantly. 

Ryuji just stares at the trapdoor, unphased by it. “Oh noooo…Akechi fell in.” He states in a deadpan tone. “Let’s move on. I’m sure he can find his way out.” 

The group pushes on, now three members down from the start. They start testing the floors and walls as they progress. But it’s not long before they reach a crossroads. Futaba sighs and shakes her head.

“Hey so, remember when Fuuka said it might be impossible for the castle’s layout to be shifting? Turns out it is. Deathy is trying to make it hard for us to reach…somewhere. Unfortunately, since we’re at a crossroad, we need to split up.”

“But…didn’t we agree that doing that is risky?” Mishima points out. “But..I guess if we find out one of these paths is a dead end we can just try to go on the other one right?” 

Naoto shakes her head. “No. If he’s shifting the structure like he is, us backtracking would end up having us go somewhere totally different. Whichever path you decide to go on you’ll need to commit to.”

The group agrees, albeit a bit reluctant. 

Minato looks at both pathways, thinking. “Ren, you lead one group down the right path while I lead the other down the left. We only have us two Wild Cards left, so doing it this way is safer.” 

“Agreed.” Ren looks among the people present and starts choosing people to go with them. 

Pretty soon the two groups head down the hallways, only to both find even more branching paths. Spitting once more, they soon find that the paths keep getting more and more narrow, until it can only fit one person. 

Teddie, emerging from his pathway after what felt like an hour…finds a door with faint pleas and apologies coming from the other side of it. “Is that…Yosuke?” The bear opens the door, to find Yosuke pleading a motionless Yu to wake up.

“Oh no!” Teddie darts to his friend’s side. “Don’t tell me he..” 

But all Yosuke can offer at first is a slow nod. “He..let himself be cursed just so I didn’t get killed. Damnit! If only I hadn’t been so stupid! …if only I had told him before he..” 

Teddie puts a hand on his shoulder. “You’re talking like he’s dead, Yosuke. He’s not. We just gotta wake him up! Just like Minato.”

“No you don’t get-….yeah, yeah you’re right. We just gotta wait for those other two right?” He sighs. “They need to hurry, this..black stone shit’s on a timer right?”

Yosuke looks to Yu…whose eyes are covered in TV-like static..blinding him. 

The scattered party all seem to be making varying degrees of progress within their hallways. Ann, first and for most has found herself in a room filed with mirrors. Holding herself a bit given she’s in her thief suit she lets out an uncomfortable sigh.

“Mirrors…right where I can see every inch. This combined with the theme. I’m getting total Kamoshida palace vibes..” She looks to the placard in the center of the room which has something written in Latin. 

“Hmm…this has to be a hint of some sort… _ key in corde mendacium.  _ Uh…okay the word key is there so that must be like a key to a door? Maybe? But…” She starts thinking. “If only Makoto or Ren were here, they’d be able to solve this riddle.” 

Not but a handful of rooms down, Ryuji finds himself in what seems like a dead end room. Letting out a long sigh, the blonde looks around. “I could turn back, but who knows where that’d take me. Might even land me in a trap door like Akechi if I’m not careful. But damn…is this the worst dungeon we coulda picked to go into next…” He leans up against the southern wall. “Boxed in, with only one choice to choose. One that goes against what was told to me. …tch, shit’s probably that way because that ghost asshole wants to mess with us.” 

With that, Ryuji leaves the room, not wanting to dwell on the past any more. But what of Akechi? Where did that trap door lead him? 

Splashes of water echo though out a tunneled area. Akechi had been dropped into what could only be described as the sewer system. The area was much darker then that of the main hallways before so with only the light of his sword as his guide, the false detective prince searches for any sort of ladder to the surface. 

“Of all of us in that whole group, why did it have to be me who was tripped up by a trap door?” He grumbles to himself. “No ladder in sight, and I’ve been in here for a while…does this place even have an ending?” 

But in the distance, a rattling his heard followed by the click of a gun being cocked. Akechi freezes in place. “A Reaper….and someone new….either they’re here to guide me…or I’ll have to force the information out from them.” He turns to face the duo stalking him. 

Minato has found himself in a room with fairly simple puzzles. Rolling his eyes as he pushes a block into place and unlocks a door he looks up. “…chains. I sense Death.” Readying his Evoker, Minato prepares for combat. “So that Akechi guy was right…he is using the hive at his whim….” 

And with Joker? He’s found himself in the midst of an onslaught of Shadows. Fending them off as much as he can solo, he seems to be keeping his rhythm going. Wiping his brow of sweat, he twirls his knife in a taunting manner. 

“Is that…the best you got?” He smirks.  “I’ve fought Slimes stronger than you!”

Despite his cockiness however, he’s starting to wear out. It’s the fight with Yu all over again…

Yosuke, back in the sacrifice room, stares at the door. Worry spreads all over his face as he still hasn’t seen one teammate step into the door after Teddie. “Where…are they Ted? Shouldn’t they be here by now?” He sounds extremely stressed, and angered. At himself? At Yu? It's hard to tell.

Teddie lowers his head. Having left his bear suit to better comfort his friend, he sighs. “It depends on how long their hallways are, Yosuke. We all…had to separate to give us better odds of reaching you two.”

“So what you’re saying is…we’re all trapped here right now. Damnit. And we don’t know how long Yu’s got before he-” He shakes his head. “No. Minato and Ren will come. They’ll fix it right?” 

Teddie shrugs. “I don’t know…I want to hope so, but…” 

They both go silent, looking at Yu once more. Yosuke then laughs with a sad tone in his voice. “Of course. They’re the only ones who can fix it. They’re the ones who got that power, that Velvet Room, that fate. They’re the heroes. And…even though I try my best to move on from my jealousy…I only get reminded of it every time a new crisis happens. I can’t be the one to save someone, it’s always someone else…” 

Teddie gives the Magician a hard look, his blue eyes glowing with determination. “That’s quitters talk! If you want to save Sensei, you need to try instead of moap.”

“But how? What can I do that Ren and Minato can’t?” 

The bear fidgets as he speaks. “Well…why were you the one captured to begin with? Why you and not one of the others?” 

Deep within Yu’s mind, he’s in Magestu Inaba…TVs litter the area that are depict his friends enjoying life. His image is among them, but frozen and static-like as if he was never there. Every scene is from his past, or some that are yet to be.

“This is your fate, Seeker.” The taunting voice of the Deathbringer laughs. “You are but a fleeting memory in those you foolishly put faith in. What are you then just some desperate pup, begging for love when you can’t even express it yourself?”

Yu silently nods in agreement as he looks to his image start to fade away from each memory depicted on the TV before the images turn to a blood red and white static that matches the area he finds himself in. 

Deathbringer then steps out, looking once again more human but this time decked out in a Yasogami boys uniform. Scythe in hand he leans forward, using it almost like a cane. “Despite my best efforts to keep you cursed, there’s still traces of you fighting to break free. As to be expected after what you saw with Minato.” He laughs. “But rest assured, I will not fail to see your punishment through to the end.” 

He puts his clawed hand on Yu’s right cheek, and grants him a sadistic grin. “There’s no reason to fight it, this is the fate of all sinners after all.”

A faint voice can be heard. It’s calling out, pleading…it’s a voice all too familiar to Yu. 

“If you can hear me at all Yu, fight it! Please! I’m not letting you just ditch me like this, not after everything we’ve been though! Please! There’s so much I still gotta tell you….” 

“…Yosuke…” Yu’s eyes start to regain the light they once had, and he starts to slowly rise to his feet.

“What?! How the hell did you break free?! I made sure no one could reach your Velvet Room this time!” Deathbringer hisses.

“Bonds of people are the true power, especially for me.” Yu smirks. “Oh, and thanks for keeping your end of the bargain. If you didn’t then maybe I really would have fallen to your spell.” With that, he draws his Katana.

“My mind is my own and YOU’RE NOT WELCOME IN IT!” He summons Izanagi and begins to do battle against the Deathbringer, two versus one.

On the outside, Yu can be seen glowing just a bit. This takes Yosuke aback a bit. “W-What the hell did I do? Is that good or..?” 

“It should be a sign that your words are getting through to him. Keep going Yosuke, he still has to eject that spook from his brain!” Teddie looks serious as he speaks, clutching his hands into fists as he hold them close his face. 

“R-Right! Come on Yu, you can win this. You’re not alone, you have so many people who care about you and would be upset if you suddenly stopped showing up…so fight. Kick his ass!”

Yu nods, and fights even harder. “I have friends, family who care. No illusion or curse can change that fact. I might fear abandonment, but as long as I have people who care for me  _ I am never alone.”  _ Yu sends an electrifying strike that slices the Deathbringer’s scythe in two. 

“But..how?!” 

“This is my mind, so anything I can think of goes…” And as if on cue, copies of his friends surround the two of them. Yu smirks. “The power of cognition is saying I’ve already won. Concede or I’ll show no mercy.”

“Tch, foolish human. Even if you defeat me here, you will not have won the war. I wouldn’t waste time entering your mind fully.” The ghoul snarls. 

“Suit yourself then. Everyone, act on your own.” 

Yosuke is sitting there, looking and staring at his friend. He keeps hoping and praying he will wake up.”Come on…please…” 

Yu stirs, the static that was in his eyes fading away slowly. Yosuke’s eyes widen, and all he can think to do is hug him. 

“You idiot, that’s for girls.” Yu jokes, smiling.

“S-Shut up! I was freaking worried okay?!”

They both laugh, fears and anxieties being melted away all at once. Youske eventually lets go, only for Teddie to hug Yu tightly.

“BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! SENSEI! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GONNER!” He cries. 

“And to think, he was the one keeping me calm this whole time. Stupid bear…” 

Yu comforts Teddie until he calms down, and the shadow boy releases his friend. The silver haired Fool then looks over to Yosuke. “Hm, ‘So many things left to tell you’ huh? Care to share?” 

“I uh…” The brown haired Magician jumps a bit, rubbing the back of his head. “Well would you look at that? Haha! I seem to have forgotten in all my panic.” 

Yu gives a small nod and looks to Teddie. “Hey Teddie, do you mind guarding the outside portion of the door for us? Something about this room feels odd to me but I don’t want a sneak attack happening on us while I’m still recovering.” 

Hopping back into his bear suit, the mascot gives a hammy salute. “Yessir Sensei sir! I’ll be the beary best guard ever!” With that he heads out, waddling with determination. 

“Okay now seriously Yosuke, what’s up?” Yu gives his friend a curious look, which is responded with an avoidance of eye contact. Whatever could this be about….? 

 

Back deep within the watery caves of the castle sewers, Goro Akechi is fending off a Reaper and its master. The area is so dark, the teen can’t make much of the other persons appearance. A dark laugh erupts from them.

“You are the one my partner wished me to capture? A shame, I figured you would be stronger.” His tone is unhinged, like a maddened jester. “The darkness is my home, and you are out of your element.” 

Akechi laughs. “Is that so? Well then, how about I shed some light? ROBIN HOOD!” 

He summons his Bless caster and manages to illuminate the sewers for a bit. While the reaper looks…well like a reaper, his other opponent is now clearly seen. 

Completely monochrome in appearance with a suit that seems more fitting for the fairly wealthy, his foe is seen. He wears a mask, of the more by the books fashion but with no eye holes, just painted on lines that resemble eyes in a crude yet disturbing fashion. The masked man lets out a laugh, fitting that of the mask he dons. “You seem fearful, human. As you should be. I am the Stalker among the Stars, god of a thousand faces, I am-”

“Nyarlathotep….my suspicions were true then….” 

The gun in the suited man’s hand changes into a sword. “Smart. You impress me Princeling. But do not think my partner is the only one who can curse you. All of us have the means of doing so…” He lets out another unhinged laugh. 

The light fades, casting the sewers in darkness once more. Akechi now has a better idea of what he was facing. But no idea of how to get out of it…

Within the Mirror room with Ann, she’s still mulling over the hint in Latin. “Geez, Latin is the route for a lot of languages right? Then why can’t I figure out what to do?” 

Suddenly, the sounds of someone running into the room approach. Closer and closer, picking up speed. It’s accompanied by screaming. “SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!”

Dashing into the room proper and closing the door is non other than Ryuji. “Freaking…skeleton…shadows. How can they even run that fast without mussels?!” 

“Geez…” Ann face palms and shakes her head. “Well I’d rather it be you then a shadow.” 

Skull takes a chance to look around the room and notices the placard. “Eh? What is this…? Spanish?” 

“Latin.”

“Ahhhh….well I have no ‘effing clue what it says either way.” Ryuji shrugs. “Is it like…the key to breaking outta this room?” 

Ann nods. “Yeah, it should be. But since I’m rusty on Latin I have no clue what I’m supposed to do?” 

“Have you tried brute forcing it?” The bleached blond suggests. 

“Eh? What do you-” But before she can ask, Ryuji slams his steel pipe on the placard, causing it and the whole portion of wall it was on to give way. Behind it sits a key. 

“Ha! It worked! Screw puzzles am I right?” Ryuji looks extremely proud of himself, grinning from ear to ear like a little kid. 

“Well…I guess if it works it works?” With that, Ann goes to grab the key…only to notice it’s attached to red chains. Very…familiar…red chains…

“Oh Shit! Don’t tell me…is that a ‘effing Reaper?!” 

The whole section of wall is destroyed, revealing the Reaper in full. It goes to attack Ann but with swift thinking, Ryuji tackles her to the ground and takes the hit straight to the back. 

“AGH!” He winces. “You-You okay?” 

“Y-Yeah. Now let’s kick this thing’s ass! We have it out numbered two to one!” They both smirk and start their fight. 

In Ren’s room, the Phantom has also found himself coming face to face with a Reaper. Close to nearly passing out due the constant stream of shadows he had to fight, he can’t do much more than dodge his attacks. 

“Damnit…I should have…packed Soma….” He states, barely dodging gunfire. 

But then an arrow and fire shoot out from behind. Looking to it’s source, Ren sees Minato and Yukari. 

“Need help, Joker?” Minato smirks. “Fighting these guys when you’re this worn is suicide. Catch.” He tosses him a Soma which Joker consumes in an instant. 

“Thanks. Now care to help me take out the trash?” 

All three prep for combat. 

Back once more with Akechi, he’s barely dodging sword strikes from  Nyarlathotep, and if it’s not that he’s being shot by the Reaper. Frustrated, Akechi tries once more to try to take control of a shadow…only to feel that pain in his chest once again. 

“Hahahahaaaaa! You really think that parlor trick will work? Your heart has grown soft, Princeling. You have no means of ever returning to that peek!”

“Tch..” Akechi sighs. 

“My Reapers are hunting each and every member of your little band as we speak. It won’t be long before all of them fall under our spell. I suggest you concede before you embarrass yourself anymore.”

“Reapers….if he’s controlling them…then I just need to disrupt it in some way…but how?” Goro mutters under his breath. 

More and more Reapers close in on the split party, and one seems to be heading in the direction of Yu, Teddie and Yosuke. What can be done to survive this attack?

The battles rage on, but the Persona users are on the loosing side.

“Dammit! Nothing we do to these guys puts a dent in them!” Yosuke shouts. The Sacrificial room’s exit is blocked by a Reaper as the Brunette tries to defend his mentally drained comrade. Teddie couldn’t fight off the monster as he lay unconscious on the floor outside. 

“This reaper…it’s unlike any one I’ve faced…it’s powered by something…or someone…” Minato looks to his grim foe. “Ren, Yukari…run. I’ll try to hold this thing off. Find our hostage and the others. Get out of here!” 

“No way! I’m not gonna let you sacrifice yourself again! Not when you’ve just come back to us!” Yukari cries out, readying her bow. “I’m staying.”

“As am I. No one can fight these things alone.” Ren states firmly, reloading his pistol. 

Mitsuru and Akihiko defend an injured Rise and Fuuka along with some assistance from Morgana. The cat puffs up. “This Reaper, I can tell from just looking at it…there’s a being powering it up. These things are normally powerful, but whoever’s juicing them up just created a monster.”

“And there’s probably more.” Mitsuru sighs. “This castle was one big trap. He knew we’d choose this one given Yu and co’s familiarity with it.”

Within the Sewer depths,  Nyarlathotep lets loose another maddened laugh. “I feel it, the life force of your comrades being whittled away by my army. So many deaths, and you’ll be to blame! AHAHA! The Black Masked traitor of Phantom Thieves, the lives of so many thrown aside because of how weak he is! Tell me, Princeling…do you truly wish to aide them? Or is it just an out to try and cleanse yourself of your past sins?” 

Akechi looks down, quiet at first. “You’re not wrong in my desire to want to alter how things went. My desire to change history is there…but I know that this is impossible. My only atonement would be to turn myself in and allow myself to be judged by the law. But another…fears being put in public eye. After what I have caused, and what was brought to light in Shido’s trial…I cannot allow it. So here I am…not trying to cleanse myself of wrong doing, but saving others from going through the same pain I have caused more times then I’d like…”

“Big words, for a human. But how can you ever think to stop me?” The suited man laughs. 

“Me? Stop you?” Akechi returns the laugh. “Oh, I apologize. My speech was merely a diversion.” 

“What do you-”

“Everyone! You can win this!” A young girls voice calls out to them all. Every Persona user seems to be powered up from this voice, Teddie and the Navigators even rising to their feet.

Akechi cracks his neck casually. “I sensed the presence of another Justice holder for a while. I’m not sure if this is a Wild Card thing or what, but all it means for me is…I can finally go all out.” 

He smirks widely, blue flames lighting up the sewers that shift to red as Loki is summoned. “Now then, let us see for sure if your statement was factual. Loki, _ do it _ .” Extending his hand out to the reaper beside his opponent, Akechi manages to take control of it. 

“But…how the hell did you?” 

“You picked the wrong person to mess with, Nyarlathotep. I don’t give a damn what happens to me, but if anyone else is going to suffer it might as well be you. And I don’t mind having front row seats.” 

The reaper, now under Akechi’s control takes swipes at its former master. The Crawling Darkness yells in frustration as he fights back.

The other Persona users are now gaining the upper hand in the fights against the Reaper Hive. Powered up Persona spells shake the rooms as more and more of the blood red cloaked demons fall. 

“I…I actually did it!” Mishima laughs. “Whatever power this is…I’m all for it!” 

Junpei nods to the Moon holder, before looking around. “Hey Yuki, looks like the walls around us are fading! Let’s go.” 

As each Reaper falls, so does the illusion it was protecting. The haunted castle starts to give way to the dungeon’s original look. All that was left was the sewers. 

Drawing his sword once more, Crow points it at his shadow partner. “Any last words, creature?” 

Nyarlathotep cackles. “I can’t just give you satisfaction, human! Kill it, see how much it matters. You and the rest of your wild card friends will find your punishment. I've only planted it's seeds.” With that, he vanishes into mist. 

“All that’s left is you.” Akechi delivers a swift strike to the reaper with his sword, felling it instantly…only to then hold his chest, with more blood being coughed up.

“D..Damnit. I could do it that once, but only then…who was that voice and…” But as the sewer starts to fade away, a girl comes into Goro’s view. 

It’s non other than Nananko Dojima. How the hell did she get here without getting hurt? 

“You were the hero fighting that suited guy right? You beat him, good job!” She giggles innocently. 

Akechi is silent, knowing how many people were aware of him it would be a risk to speak. Nanako however, is confused by his lack of talkativeness. 

“Do you not talk much, Mister Hero?” She asks. 

He just silently nods. He’s no hero, but given his mask conceals his face completely, it’s easier to just agree than give away his identity by voice. But…then she giggles, which confuses him. 

“I get it! You’re shy aren’t you? Well that’s okay, a lot of people get shy Mister. There’s no reason to be embarrassed by it. Come on, I heard my big bro somewhere in here but I don’t think my Perso..Persona can fight. Will you help me out?” She doesn’t even give Akechi time to respond before grabbing his hand.

A small child being so nice to him…it didn’t feel right. After everything he’s done, why would he be suddenly be given this? He silently tells himself it’s nothing more then a child unaware of the facts. 

A child…who is related to Yu Narukami.

 

This will not end well for him.

As the young girl drags the formerly revered Detective Idol through out the stone castle, they start to notice the spotty appearances of shadows. It seems that with the two spirits no longer affecting the place, the shadows have become less hostile. 

Akechi gives a sigh of relief. No shadows to fight means he doesn’t have to remove his mask and risk her realizing who he is. But that one sigh gets Nanako’s attention. 

“Are you starting to relax a bit Mister? I dono how much farther we have to go…” She starts to sigh as well. 

This would normally be a time to give some sort of word of comfort to a person, but given how necessary it was to mask his identity he can’t offer more than a pat on a shoulder. A very awkward one at that, but it seems Nanako appreciated it all the same.

Who didn’t appreciate it how ever…is Yu. As the duo had been walking to regroup, so had the rest. And Narukami along with Yosuke and Teddie were the ones who just so happened to come across Akechi trying to be friendly with Nanako. 

As if Akechi’s luck in this place wasn’t bad already. 

Yu walks to them, in almost a march. He’s smiling, but while to someone like Nanako it seems completely friendly…to the detective he knows exactly what’s going to happen. 

“Hey Big Bro! We were just looking for you.” Nanako giggles joyfully.

“You were huh? I thought you were back home Nanako. Did you come here on accident?” Yu asks, his tone abnormally calm despite the vibes he’s giving off. 

“Yeah, by accident. But I heard fighting and I tried to help. Did…did it help?” 

Youske nods with a big grin on his face. “You sure did, Nanako-chan. But…this place is kinda dangerous to stay in. We’ll need to lead you out of here ASAP.”

Yu nods, smiling. “Teddie can lead you out.”

But Nanako shakes her head in defiance. “Nuh-uh. I want to help save the person stuck here too.” 

Yu and Yosuke try to talk her out of it to the best of their abilities, but they can’t seem to find a good way to do so. Teddie eventually sighs and smiles. 

“Sensei, I’ll watch Nanako while you get our friends and captive. I’ve protected her before, and I’m beary willing to do it again!” 

Yu laughs and nods. “Alright. Try to find a safe location to wait, we’ll find you.” 

With that, Yu and Youske along with Akechi walk off to find the others. Teddie is now one on one with Nanako. 

“So, Nanako-chan..how did you get here?” Teddie asks, trying to keep her spirits high as they walk to an interior room. 

“Well…I was sleeping…and then I had a weird dream. My Big Bro and his two new friends were fighting in a scary place.” She explains, looking around as she talks. “Then they started winning! But then I woke up after they started talking about stuff I didn’t know about.” 

Teddie nods, getting a bit of an idea of what happened. “Well…what happened next?” 

She thinks for a bit and then snaps her fingers. “I heard a spooky voice on the TV! It said ‘The Fog will cover the mind of it’s eraser’. It sounded scary…and bad. But then I saw my Big Bro’s face on the TV. I got scared so I hit it…then I fell in….”

Teddie then realizes what happened. Yu was used to bait Nanako much like how Yosuke was used to bait Yu. But it backfired due to Yosuke snapping the Wild Card out of the trance… It was best not to tell her though, or else he’d be unable to get her to leave. 

“Well you saved him! And everyone else too I bet!” Teddie laughs, which Nanako joins in as well.  

But back with the trio…Yu is quiet, but it’s still quite clear he’s unhappy that Akechi, a known killer, happened to be the person who found Nanako. 

Akechi had been very careful not to speak so far on this walk, but with a third party in the mix in the form of Yu’s equally pissed friend Yosuke…who knows how long it’d take for one to slam him with a game of Twenty Questions?

Suddenly, the former sewers didn’t sound so bad right now…

But one thing bothered Goro, it was the way their new foe talked about Deathbringer. 'Partner'...in what sense did he mean? 

As the trio continue their trek…Yu can hear a voice in the back of his head. It starts off quiet, but gradually gets louder until he can make out the words. 

“You cannot escape Seeker. Who ever said those I cursed were cured upon waking?” Deathbringers snears mixed with the insane cackles of his ally fill Yu’s head until it’s all he can hear.

He falls to his knees, alarming Yosuke and Akechi as he clutches his head. Yosuke puts a hand on the Fool’s shoulder. “Bro, are you okay?” 

“Get out of my head….” Yu mutters.

“Wha-”

“GET OUT!” 

Yu suddenly draws his sword, still clutching his head with his free hand. Yosuke is scared stiff, confused as to what is going on. But Akechi draws his blade, not even hesitating. 

“Hanamura, we need to subdue him.” Akechi states lifting his sword to block an incoming strike from Yu. 

“What?! No way in hell am I fighting him again! It already sucked the first two times, I’m not making it a third!” 

“LEAVE!” Yu shouts. While he isn’t blinded, it seems he’s now unaware of his surroundings, believing the two to be Deathbringer and Nyarlathotep. He summons Izanagi, then attacks the hallway with a strong lighting attack.

“AH!” Yosuke barely dodges it. “Damnit…why does he have to have type advantage on me…” 

“All you need to do is knock him out, I’m not asking you to kill him.” Akechi strikes Yu, knocking back into a wall but doesn’t do much more then that. 

“F-Fine, but aren’t you a wild card too? Summon something to make this easier!” Yosuke demands, drawing his kunai. 

“I…only have two Persona…” Goro sighs, which doesn’t please Yosuke one bit.

“Of course you do…” 

With the fight now being two on one, Akechi and Yosuke are working to try to subdue a now scared and confused Yu. The fighting however, isn’t missed by anyone else in the nearby areas.

Mitsuru looks up, tapping Akihiko on the shoulder. “Do you hear that? It sounds like fighting.” 

Akihiko punches his fists together and nods. “Let’s go give them back up. Morgana, Rise, Fuuka, give us back up.”

They all agree and run to the sound, but upon seeing what’s going on…they’re shocked. 

“Whoa! What the hell is going on?!” Morgana cries out, cutlass out. “Why are you guys fighting?!” 

“Shut up and help, cat. This guy’s not in control.” Akechi hisses. “Our friend didn’t release Yu so easily.”

Nodding, The duo now has three more backing them up, now with even navigators. 

But if this is happening to Yu…what does this mean for Minato?

In the hallway, close to where the captive is…Minato starts to grab his head. “No…damnit…”

Yukari and Ren pause, looking back to where he is. Minato falls to his knees, much in the same manner that Yu did before. 

“Get out of my head….”

“Minato? Are you oka-” But before Yukari can say anything, Minato draws his sword which causes Ren to pull out his knife.

“Bow at the ready, Yukari…Minato’s not in the right mind!” Joker grunts.

With two wild cards now fighting the team…what can be done?

Lighting crackles on the ground as Yu prepares to strike his best friend and the others who aide him. Yosuke is too nervous, too reluctant to fight back. He can’t do much but block any physical strikes come his way, not being able to do much else.

“Come on Yu, you gotta snap out of this! It’s us, your friends!” He cries out, pain clear in his voice. 

“Shut up…SHUT UP!” Yu shouts back, getting even more enraged. He dives straight at Yosuke, but Akihiko manages to catch his blade at the last second, kicking Yu back a bit.

“It’s no use trying to talk sense to him, Yosuke. This is like a shadow’s brain-jacking spell. We _need_ to knock him out.”

“I know! …I know…” The Magcian lowers his head, the grip on his weapons tightening. “Dammit why’d it have to be him!”

Morgana laughs, placing a cat paw on Yosuke’s leg. “Fear no more! I have come up with a dashing plan to get us out of this!” 

“Uhh, if that plan is to get yourself killed then it’ll work juuust fine.” Rise states, checking Morgana’s Persona. “You and Yosuke both are at a huge disadvantage so long as Yu has Izanagi out.”

Mitsuru attempts to freeze Narukami, but can’t seem to get it off as he just takes the damage with no status effect afterwards. An idea then hits her. “We need to somehow change his focus to one of us. Akechi!”

Goro looks up from the fight and right at Mitsuru. “Hm? What?”

“You’re able to take over shadows right? What are the odds that you can find one that’ll have an advantage over Izanagi?”

“Low to near impossible. I was able to take over a Reaper, but not for very long and it caused some sort of damage to myself. I don’t think I can do it again until I figure out what is stopping me from doing it so freely. But, if I keep his focus on me entirely…he might figure out he can’t do much damage to me without switching.”

“Well whatever you’re going to do, Crow, I suggest you do it now.” Morgana states.

Back at the door to the captive’s chamber, Yukari and Ren are starting to have trouble fending off Minato.

“Damnit, he’s a lot faster then I thought he’d be!” Ren quickly dodges a fire attack from Messiah. “How the hell are we going to knock him out at this rate?!”

“That’s enough!” Minato yells, summoning Messah once again for another attack.

“Minato please! It’s us!” Yukari cries out. “We can’t keep fighting you!”

“Die.” Minato sets off an attack that is going straight for Yukari. But before Ren can push her out of the way, Magtesu Izanagi blocks the attack out of nowhere, glitching as it's hit.

“Geez, and here I thought I would go a lot longer without having to be saving you brats.”

“Adachi?” Ren looks over and sees not only Adachi, but Mishima, Junpei, Ken and Koromaru. 

“We heard the fighting and ran as quickly as we could. …Adachi wasn’t really in a rush though.” Mishima smiles, laughing a bit. “So is he under mind control?”

Yukari nods. “Pretty much. Words aren’t working so we need to knock him out.”

Koromaru whimpers a bit, not wishing to harm Minato. Ken pats his head. “It’s alright, Koromaru. We’ll save him.”

The group combines their efforts to subdue Minato. Ren moves in, attempting to use brute force against him. 

At the same time, Akechi moves in close, exchanging sword strikes with Yu as if it were a choreographed dance. 

Ren and Akechi’s efforts begin to sync up with one another. Knife swipe, sword swing, happening in unison despite being far away from one another. But so too, are Yu and Minato’s efforts. 

And at once, both controlled fools lunge their katana….straight at the dual wild cards.

Aimed straight for the stomach. 


	6. Deja Vu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beginning is slightly graphic, apologies to the squeamish.

The air is still, the whole dungeon has fallen deathly silent. Shaking eyes tell more of what has happened then actual words.

Minato.

Yu.

Both, staring at their quivering hands at the damage that they dealt… Neither were aware of their actions, until this very moment. Looking up at the person in front of them, they see the blue flames of rebellion fade away…

Teddie’s right ear twitches, something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Nanako pauses, looking up at her friend with confusion. 

“What’s wrong Teddie? Did you hear something?” She asks.

Teddie knows he needs to get her out of there, and fast. Whatever happened…he needed to be with them. And Nanako, far away from it all. Without even speaking, the mascot grabs her hand and starts to run. 

“What’s going on? We were just gonna wait, right? Why are we leaving then?” The child asks. 

“I’m sorry Nana-chan…but I’m taking you home…” Teddie winces, trying his best to still look brave for her. Yu would have probably asked him to do this anyway, so doing it ahead of time would just be right.

They exit the Castle, and Teddie makes a TV appear…urging Nanako to get in. 

“But…what about my Big Bro? Is he…is he gonna come too?” She turns to Teddie, worry in her voice.

But Teddie doesn’t answer, he just simply offers a smile.

“Teddie…promise me!”

“Hm?” The mascot tilts his head.

“Promise that you’ll bring my Big Bro safe when he beats the bad guys!” She holds out her pinky. 

Teddie comes out of his bear suit, and wraps his pinky around hers in a pinky swear. “I promise, Nana-chan. And you better stay safe until then.”

She nods, letting go before going into the TV. Teddie then makes it disappear, getting rid of any chance of her coming back.

Back within the castle….neither Akechi nor Ren has moved. Red liquid drips from their backs, falling off the tips of the katanas. They are still alive…but weak.

Yu and Minato, still can’t find anything to say. It’s as if they wish this all to be a nightmare, or just another part of the spirit duo’s illusion. 

Adachi finally sighs and shakes his head as he starts to direct people in the group he’s stuck in. “Don’t remove the blade. Do that, and he’ll bleed out. How many of you kids can heal?”

Morgana looks at Akechi’s situation. “We need to heal him. But without causing more damage.”

The remaining Persona users find some of the others.

And are frozen at the sights before them.

Ryuji starts to move to Minato, preparing to attack him in full rage…but Ann stops him as she points out the look on his face. 

Naoto begins to help with Akechi’s situation..while still stunned at how it happened. 

They work in silence. Yu and Minato lower their heads, not willing to face their friends.

Faint apologies come from them repeatedly…..and they release their blades.

Yosuke goes to comfort Yu, as Junpei goes to Minato. 

“I’m sorry….”

“Why did this have to happen?”

Black shadowy mist creeps from the katana hilts to the victims they are on, yet no one seems to notice. 

Mishima, reading the vibes of the room decides to go into the captive chamber and free the person trapped. Opening it, he finds Ai Ebihara. 

She looks to him, squinting. “You’re rescuing me?” She asks, a bit skeptical. 

“One out of a much larger group, but yes.” Mishima replies. Despite him talking to a girl, the mask granted to him by his Persona allows for a bit of protection. That and the current air in the area left no room for a bout of flustering to occur. 

Noticing another door within the room she’s trapped in, Mishima looks to his group and silently gestures that he’s going to use it so she doesn’t have to see what has happened.

Ryuji gives a silent nod in return as he holds Ren steady as the others start to gently remove his coat and t-shirt to better treat his injury.

The two Moon Arcana holders head though the door which is in actuality, a staircase…leading right around the corner from where Yu is. Mishima motions Ai to wait as he checks their surroundings…only to find the same scene they were just trying to avoid.

Shocked, but still knowing he had a job to do…Mishima leads Ai down a different hallway. If he can get her to the entrance, he just had to wait for Morgana.

But how long would it take? And could he do it without her ever seeing?

“How much farther, kid?” Ai whispers. Mishima was tense, one minute he had just simply wanted to be enjoying a brand new video game before going back into the stresses of his Third Year. But here he was, guiding a kidnapped woman out of a castle while trying his best to avoid her seeing…a tragedy.

“We shouldn’t be much farther, miss….uh…”

“Ai.” She responds, looking him in the eyes as they walk.

“Ai. My name is….” But then Mishima realizes something. Unlike the others, he was never given a code name. He could make one up right here, just to show off! But…this was still a serious matter. 

“…Yuki.” He finally states, reluctantly. If he treated this situation like a game, he’d just fall back into that pit Ren got him out of a year ago. 

Ren himself, is starting to grow a bit dizzy as his friends…and Adachi, start to treat him. They cast healing spells, slowly removing the sword bit by bit as the magic reforms the torn skin from the impact. 

The process, is slow and is in no way painless. Ren feels as though he’s close to passing out as he endures the agony. 

Akechi’s treatment is much of the same. Teddie, running up to the group decides to lend a hand.

Yu however doesn’t even seem to speak. The guilt of hurting, almost killing someone again…it’s eating him alive. Yosuke tries his best to remind him that he himself didn’t do it. But the silver haired young man then looks right at his friend.

“It was my Persona, my sword, my body…how could it have been anyone else but me?”

Mishima finally makes it to the entrance with Ai after about an hours worth of avoidance.. She places a hand on her hip, looking around.

“So, do you have a car or…?” She asks. “Cause this place looks way too big to just, walk.”

Footsteps approach the duo. Yu and Minato, as well as the rest of the group. Ai turns to see them all and is surprised to see Yu within the ranks. Ren and Akechi have been fully patched up, but are obviously extremely drained. 

Yu smiles and waves, which seems completely genuine despite the fact he’s still mad at himself. 

Morgana sighs. “Well, I think we’ve had quite enough of this castle huh? Let’s head out.” He then turns into the Mona bus and everyone piles in, despite Ai’s initial confusion. 

The drive is quiet aside from the occasional howl from a shadow wolf outside. The air is almost as tense as it was back in the castle, even more so actually... Wanting to break the silence, Minato finally speaks.

“Ren, I’m really sorry for what I did back there. I wasn’t in control and…” But a hand is placed on his shoulder before he can finish.

“Hey, no worries. Two near death experiences in one summer is a hell of a good story to tell.” The frizzy haired teen jokes before putting both hands back on the wheel.

It earns a small smile from Minato, relived that his new ally wasn’t angered by it all. 

Yu starts to say something to Akechi but he just simply holds his hand in front of the silver haired fools face.

“Save your breath, it was quite obvious you were under control.” He states, shaking his head. The last thing Akechi wanted was pity.

The Mona Car soon reaches the training hub. Ai, upon seeing it is confused. 

“Hold on, I thought you were taking me out of this place.” She huffs.

Yu shakes his head. “We can’t. Without protection we can’t in good faith just let you out. The shadows are still out in our world looking for people to take so letting you out means you'll just be taken again. This is the only safe haven right now.”

As they all exit and enter the hub, Kou and Daisuke greet them from a nearby table.

“You guys came back with another? Awesome.” Kou smiles, and then notices who it was they saved.

And Ai notices him as well.

As the Persona  users head into the meeting room to track where they should head next, Ai moves over to where Kou and Daisuke sit. She’s quiet, as if she has no idea what to say.

Being polite, Kou pats the chair beside him and smiles. “You must be shaken up after all that, yeah? Well this place’s been pretty damn sturdy, so no worries.”

“Y-Yeah…” Ai nods, taking a seat beside him before going quiet once again. Now that she’s in better view, both guys notice that the sundress she has on is damp in a lot of places. It seems like where she was being held had some sort of leak.

“Are you, okay at all Ai?” Daisuke asks, leaning forward so he can make better eye contact with the curly haired girl. She’s silent, seemingly not wishing to recount what she saw, and heard back in the castle.

But then she shivers a bit, letting out a small sneeze in the echoy hall. It was quite clear being stuck in that place did as much of a number on her as the Sauna did for the duo. 

Kou shakes his head and without a second thought, starts to unbutton his shirt and drapes it over her as if it were a jacket. “Here, I don’t know how much this will help but…we all need to stay as on top of our game as we can.”

Ai blushes a bit at the gesture. “I see being in America hasn’t changed you much at all.” She states, a bit quieter then her normal tone.

Daisuke can already tell what’s going on, and without a single word…gets up and moves somewhere else in the room to give them space. 

Within the meeting room however, the warm and fuzzy feelings don’t reach it’s doors. Rise is hard at work using her Persona to better track where the next captive lies. 

“I think I have a hit for our next place to go check out, guys.” She finally states, causing the rest of the team to turn their attention.

“Well? Don’t leave us hanging!” Mishima leans forward in his seat, eagerly awaiting her words.

“It seems our next Dungeon is…Marie’s….” The idol sighs, sounding slightly befuddled by the location. But due to the tenseness of what had just happened, no one else picks up on it.

“Back to that forest then, huh? Well I think after this last one, we better be prepared for any changes this one has done to it. And no separating this time.” Yosuke orders. “We’re better off as a group.”

“Agreed. Well let’s let our three friends know that we’re about to head out again. For their own safety that is.” Yu smiles and stands up to go tell them. 

But when Yu goes to tell them, he finds Ai asleep with her head on Kou’s shoulder, with his shirt still on her shoulders. It seems the stress of being captured wore her out, and it all finally hit her at once. 

Kou looks up at his friend. “You guys about to head out again? Well, whoever you end up saving next…they might do good with a little reassurance.” He suggests. 

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to do just that.” The fool smiles. “Well stay safe while we’re gone alright?” 

“Shouldn’t that be the other way around, dude?” Kou laughs.

As the Persona users head out to the Mona Bus, Yu takes one last look at Kou and Ai. He wonders if she’ll ever have the guts to tell him what he himself heard on that roof that day. 

He should probably just leave them be for now. 

_ Cafe LeBlanc, Yogen-Jaya, Tokyo _

A quiet dial tone can be heard in the empty cafe. “Come on…pick up…”

_ “Reports from Okina have stated that strange creatures appeared out of the blue, the cause for their appearance is unknown at this time. Several people have been reported missing starting with six children who vanished shortly before summer vacation. This, combined with the Meteor crash in the nearby town of Inaba have caused the public to wonder what might be going on.”  _ The TV is playing a report detailing the recent invasion of shadows. It seems the chaos is more visible then the Persona users realize.

Sojiro sighs, and tries to call again. “Dammit! Ren…pick up!” 

The call is answered, and Boss starts to smile. But then…

“ _ This is Amamyia, if you’re hearing this I’m currently busy. Leave a message after the tone and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.” _

Sojiro sighs and decides to leave a message. “Ren, please tell me Futaba is safe. Reports have been all over the news about creatures attacking people. Those…shadows you mentioned last year right? Stay safe, I know you’re probably trying to solve this issue but please…keep Futaba out of harms way.” 

He hangs up, and sits down. “I thought we were done with these crazy events after what those kids did…”

Just then, the pay phone rings. Confused as to who’d be calling Sojiro goes to answer it. 

“Is this Sojiro Sakura?” The man on the other end asks.

“It is, might I ask who you are?”

“Detective Ryotaro Dojima, of the Inaba Police force. I was provided your contact information by a kid who lives in town. Said you were family?”

Family… Given his location it obviously meant Ren. Sojiro smiles and nods. “Yeah, you could say that. Is there something you need?” 

“Well no doubt you’ve seen the news coverage of the string of attacks. My Nephew has been working along side your kid to try to figure out whats going on by heading to the source. But given his methods are…beyond my understanding, I have to still deal with these things out here in the meanwhile.” Dojima sighs.

“So you used the contacts he got from snooping on my kid to see if I might know of a way to deal with them? Seems there actually  _ are  _ real detectives out there.” Sojiro laughs.

“Well what can you provide?” Dojima asks, the sound of a chair creaking can be heard.

“Unfortunately, not too much.” 

“Anything you can think of will be useful, I’m sure my other contacts might be able to make better sense of it all.”

_ The Hollow Forest _

The group is all gathered, and the first thing that greets them is a sign right at the dungeon’s entrance. What it contains confuses the party.

“ _ The Forest’s Curse shall take hold once you step past this point.  _ Curse? What does it mean?” Mishima asks, genuinely confused.

“Whatever it is, be on guard.” Minato takes a deep breath. “I’ll lead the way. It’s the least I can do after that…disaster earlier.”

With that, the fallen Fool takes a step into the forest only to be engulfed in a cloud of smoke. Where once a person stood, now stands a mouse with blue hair. 

Ryuji lowers his head in annoyance. “Again?! We’ve had to deal with this mouse shit so much…” 

“Well…at least some of us are used to it.” Yosuke sighs. “We better move, the Thieves can lead the way since they’re the most accustomed.”

Joker smirks, stretching. “Try to keep pace, alright?”

Reports of Shadow activity continue as the Persona users make the trek through the forest.

_ “-And we can now list the names of some of the missing people from the Okina-Inaba attacks. Kou Ichijo,  Daisuke Nagase, Yumi Ozawa, Ai Ebihara and Naoki Konishi. These people were all spotted at the meteor crash site two days ago according to eye witness reports.” _

Labrys closes her hands into fists. “We can’t just sit around. I know Aigis said she and the others were gonna handle it all but, there’s still something we can do. There’s not many of us Persona users left but someone has to deal with those shadows!”

Mitsuru’s maid, Kikuno nods. “I’ll prepare the chopper. Should we try to contact Sho as well?”

Labrys shakes her head. “I wouldn't try. Chances are that guys already racing to Inaba as we speak.”

_ Nijima Residece, Tokyo _

“That’s about all I can provide you with, Detective Dojima. Any more of those sorts of people? Well outside of the Phantom Thieves and your Nephew’s group supposedly, I wouldn’t know what to tell you.” Sae sighs, setting down her pen.

“Should more Persona users be out there in the world, we could really use their help. Sightings have started to reach here now. It’s spreading…like a virus.”

_ Hollow Forest _

The mousified group has been making steady progress throughout the forest…until screams are heard. 

Ren’s ear twitches as he looks to the sound. “Something doesn’t feel right. The area feels like it’s getting stronger.”

Yu nods, looking around the forest before starting to take lead. “We have to save this person. Before whatever is happening gets worse.”

The Phantom Thieves lead the charge through the twisting pathways of the hollow forest. Accustomed to this transformation thanks to their experiences in Shido’s Arc, they aren’t as bothered by the alteration as Mishima and the other two groups. 

“How does one get used to being turned into a mouse?” Aigis asks as they all keep pace.

Ryuji sighs, slowing down just enough to respond. “If you saw the kinds of things in Shido’s palace we had to go though plus those damn Shadows in Futaba’s Palace you’d get it in no time flat.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s fun though.” Ren adds in. “You can’t summon Persona like this.”

The others go silent. Ren suddenly realizes his mistake.

“Amamiya, you could have mentioned that sooner.” Minato shakes head.

“Uh then what’re we gonna do if Shadow’s approach?” Kanji sounds worried as he speaks.

“We just stealth it.” Ann states with pure confidence. “You guys can handle that much right?”

The group soon comes to a narrow hole, in which only mice would ever be able to fit.

“Let’s go in. I bet we’ll change back to normal on the other side.” Futaba directs.

“What makes you so sure, Futaba-chan?” Rise chimes in.

“Experience.”

“I’m trusting it! I can’t deal with being this size for much longer.” Yosuke runs through the hole, with Yu tailing him this time as to not repeat what happened last time.

A puff of smoke is seen from the other side, followed by Youske laughing happily. Seems Futaba was right on the money. 

The others pass through and are restored to their original forms. Ren however, can’t shake an odd feeling in his gut.

“This place, it’s trying to set up a scenario like in Shido’s Palace. It’s using past experiences against us I bet…”

Akechi looks to his counterpart and nods. “If this is truly the case, then we must be on guard. Because, it might be going in _ reverse.” _

“How long before it starts messing with our heads then?” Joker wonders.

Contenting their trek through the forest, a realization hits Yu. One that should have been questioned before they even set foot within the area.

“Didn’t this place vanish after we cleared it? Why is it suddenly back?” The silver fool points out. 

Morgana offers a shrug. “Well, maybe it’s like what happened in the castle. We each had to face something representing a personal struggle when we were split off from one another.”

“Yeah. If that ghost dude can enter minds, it’s no problem for him to make a copy of an existing area…” Ryuji places his hands in his pockets due to the lack of shadows in the area.

“Except, I don’t think Deathbringer was the one to replicate this place.” Everyone looks to Akechi who has a stern look beneath the red tent of his visor. “When I fell in that trap door, I encountered a second being. The Crawling Darkness itself.”

Futaba goes quiet, allowing a small nod. “So you’re saying our main baddie isn’t the ghoul, but the god.”

“It’s still only conjecture at this point, but I’d like think the closer we get to understanding their relationship the closer we are to ending this madness.”

The forest seems to warp a bit as they press on, shifting between the Hollow Forest to various palaces the Thieves visited before going back to normal. Confused, Mishima looks to Ren for answers.

“Hey uh….Joker? Why does this area keep shifting?” The Newbie asks.

“It might have to do with our thoughts melding with the ones of Yu’s group. It’s trying to keep the form of a dungeon they explored, but since it’s feeding off of memories of all of us it’s getting confused as to what it should be.” Ren suggests, watching as the area warps again. “I don’t pretend that I understand much about Cognition but this much I’m positive on.” 

“Wouldn’t a shift in cognition have an affect on us as well, Joker?” Haru asks, placing a finger on her cheek. “Our suits are only possible because of that after all.”

Minatao shakes his head. “I highly doubt it. Because what would it do to you anyway? Strip you do-”

“Hey uh, Minato? When did you change clothes?” Yosuke butts in.

“What are you talking about Yosuke, I haven’t had time to change even if I wanted to-huh?” But looking down, Minato finds him self no longer in the casual wear he had on, but his swim trunks.

“You guys? I think it’s happened to all of us.” Ann states, her tone alarmed. “This is so weird! Why would this happen?”

Everyone notes the shift in each others attire, fully stopping to ponder why it would happen. Naoto sighs, seemingly already knowing the answer.

“It’s to keep us off focus. May it be from distraction or embarrassment. This could easily be used to capture us.” She has her arms crossed, not wishing to be in her swimsuit on a mission.

The area shifts to the image of the Ark Pool before going back to normal. 

Ren lets out a solid nod. “If it’s repeating puzzles from our past, then I think I know how we can use these swimsuits to our advantage.” He goes to adjust his gloves…only to remember he’s no longer wearing them, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

“A-Advantage?” Chie exclaims. “What the hell do you mean?!”

“I swear, whatever you have in your head Joker..” Yukari glares.

“Oh geez…not this again..” Ann shakes her head, already knowing what’s to come. 

With the forest now a mesh of the Arc and the hollow woods, Joker goes over his plan with the others. 

“Okay so Shido’s Palace we needed to get key cards to get to the heart of the palace, right? Well with this place being made up of entirely our thoughts, this would mean we’d need to overcome this the same way.” Ren smirks, brushing some of his frizzy hair out of his face.

“Okay, that’s neat and all but what does this have to do with all of us being in swimsuits?” Yosuke asks, hand placed on his hip.

“Everything.” Ryuji smirks. “One of the guys we needed to grab a letter from was a total perv. We had Ann and the other girls put on swimsuits and talk to him. Got him off guard and everything. And to top it off?  _ It was my plan.”  _ He sounds so proud of himself as he talks, beating his chest a bit with one fist.

“Yes, but we still had to fight him in the end….” Morgana sighs.

“So…you’re saying there’s going be a guy on the other side of these trees and we have to…seduce him?” Yukiko asks, before bursting out laughing. “I’m just…imagining Chie and I trying to do that and it’s just….ahahaha!”

Chie sighs, placing a hand on her head and shaking. “Give her a minute. But I’m so not down for this! What if he follows one of us out of this place? What then?” 

“It won’t be a real person, merely just a cognition.” Akechi explains, looking over at a now calmed down Yukiko before continuing. “Think of doing this as solely being a puzzle. Complete it and move on, there’s no need to get worked up about it.” 

Yusuke seemingly isn’t even paying attention to the conversation however, instead he’s more focused on Akihiko and Kanji. He has his fingers done in his typical picture frame work as he nods to himself. “It is a shame I left my sketch book at the hotel, so many of these experiences could make for wonderful pieces…”

Kanji crosses his arms in annoyance. “Well I sure hope you aren’t implyin’ I’m one of those ‘Experiences’.”

“Well one of should at least scout and see who we’re dealing with,” Ken suggests, hand in his pocket. “If we go in blindly it might not end well.” 

“Well who’d be the most willing to take a risk at being spotted?” Makoto looks among the group. 

Mishima sighs “I can go check, I need to contribute more to this team after all.” He walks around the corner and comes back fairly quickly.

“Well?” Yu asks, concerned as to why he came back so fast.

“It…it’s a woman!”

Ren and Ryuji look confused, the others all turning to them as to see if they have a new plan. 

“Yeah, it was a woman, with a black one piece swimsuit…and-” But as Mishima goes to describe her…Minato, Junpei and Akihiko’s faces go pale.

They know who’s around the corner, and suddenly wish they weren't here right now.

“Yo, those three don’t look so good all of a sudden. What’s up?” Ryuji asks, leaning closer to them. 

Minato clears his throat. “Was she…well endowed?”

“I don’t know how relevant this question is but….yes.”

Akihiko sighs, shaking his head. “If this place is pulling from all of our memories, then some of ours must be in this mix as well. Back during our journey, we went to the beach over summer break…and Junpei suggested we go on a ‘Babe Hunt’.”

“Yeah..and one of the women we chose to flirt with was an older lady…she seemed pretty into it…like creeply into it…” Junpei lowers his head.

“H-Hold on…you didn’t…happen to get her name did you?” Yosuke starts to have a bad feeling himself. “Damnit! I-I have to check!”

He pokes his head around the corner, and comes back even faster then Mishima did. 

“Uh huh, I was right. It’s Kashiwagi.” Yosuke sounds defeated as he talks.

“You can’t be serious…” Yu sounds tired, putting a hand on his head as he shakes it. “We’ll have to get past her..”

Chie laughs. “Hey Akechi did say it’s only a cognition thing, so don’t get cold feet boys! Ohhh I am so getting front row seats to this.”

Ann laughs as she starts to shove Ryuji, Ren, Yosuke and Akechi. “You four go as well~”

Yukari playfully winks. “You guys might actually succeed this time. Good luuck~”

Ken starts to object. “Hey! Why am I being roped into this too?! I was too young to have been apart of it before!”

Teddie starts to slowly sneak away, only for Naoto to grab him by the hand.

“Morgana, Koromaru and Adachi each have an excuse, but you don’t. The better the numbers, the greater the chance of success. Go help.” 

Teddie lowers his head. “Why must I be cursed with good looks?”

_ Persona Training Center, TV World _

Ai finally wakes up, her eyes fluttering open only to meet Kou’s again. She realizes she had fallen asleep on his shoulder and jolts up.

“Ah! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Kou shakes his head, smiling. “It’s alright, you were tired from all of that excitement. No one would blame you.”

Ai smiles a bit, nodding slowly. “Thanks then…so, where did they go? It’s awfully quiet in here…” 

“They headed out to save the next victim, apparently.” Daisuke says, walking out from the restroom. 

“So…they really are out saving people. But those…freakish monsters! How are they dealing with them all?” The Moon holder looks to the floor. “They took so many people, and they’re just putting themselves in danger…”

“Well, I think it’s because of those powers they have.” Kou looks to the ceiling. “Persona..I think it’s called. All of them have it, and it makes fighting those freaks easy.”

“Per..sona? Sounds like some dumb fantasy mubo jumbo…” The curly haired girl shakes her head. “But all of them you say? That means…even Chie?” 

Kou and Daisuke both nod, and Ai seems a bit more hurt by that response. 

“Just another thing I have to compete with…if at all…” She mutters under her breath. 

Kou then sighs. “But yeah, who’d think that this is the big secret Yu and his pals were hiding this whole time. The whole group is out of our league…”

Hearing him say that, Ai has a bit more hope. She nods a bit, which Daisuke notices but says nothing to acknowledge it. 

“So you’re giving up on what you said before, man?” Daisuke asks casually. 

“Possibly..right now, I don’t know if I can compete with this kind of secret life…” The blue haired young man shakes his head. “No, I don’t think I can at all.”

“Well, there’s always more people out there for you.” Ai says quietly. If Kou heard or not, she’s unaware. 

_ Back in The Hollow Forest _

The girls are having trouble trying to get the guys to go over to cognitive  Kashiwagi. 

“Come on, don’t be such a baby! It’s basically a shadow!” Chie yells, trying her best to shove Yosuke. 

“I don’t care what the hell it is! I’m  _ not _ dealing with this!” He barks back, planting his feet in an effort to not be moved any farhter. 

“This is revenge for that swimsuit contest! Now you can see how  _ we _ felt!” Yukiko states, trying to push Yu.

“Wasn’t the cross-dressing contest enough of a punishment? This is a straight up death sentence!” Yu responds.

Ryuji looks to Morgana for any form of assistance, but he’s greeted only by a shit eating grin. 

“Damnit Mona! This would be a good time to help us!” He pleads.

“Help? Last I checked, you had a second reason for that plan in the Palace in motion, so seeing this go through is good enough punishment.” The cat laughs.

The guys all sigh, seems they’re not getting out of this whatsoever as they all finally get ushered to the poolside.

Huddled in a group near the pools edge, the guys are trying to make a plan. 

“Okay, so one of us has to go up to her and start the conversation….problem is she’s very much an in your face type of woman.” Minato sighs, hiding his annoyance under his hair.

“Great. Just what I needed…” Ryuji mutters, head lowered.

“Hey, you were the one who came up with the plan before Skull boy! So start thinking!” Yosuke demands.

“Yeah, sure. Except I don’t know what the hell to do in the case this Cognition does something screwed up!”

“Why don’t we use basic hand signals?” Yu suggests. “Thumbs up for everything’s okay. And thumbs down for ‘Assistance Needed’“

Yusuke takes a glance at their target. “She has a key in her hand, perhaps this is our goal?”

“A key huh…I got it!” Yosuke smiles, having come up with a plan. “While one of us talks to her, some will stay behind and observer while others look for where the key might go."

“Seems sound enough, but we still haven’t chosen who’s gonna actually go talk to that crazy..” Kanji takes a glance over at her. “We better hurry up, or else who knows what will happen..”

“Well…Joker could always go.” Mishima suggests, shrugging. “A suave Phantom Thief flirting with a beautiful woman…who wouldn’t want that?”

“I mean, I’m not actually that good of a flirt all things considered…but I can try. I just need to get the key off of her right?” Ren states, slightly nevous. 

“I’m sure you can handle it, man. Just uh…be careful.” Junpei states sternly. “Last thing we need is you getting hurt…er…again.” 

The team of guys breaks off, with Mishima, Akechi and Yu watching from behind as backup. 

“I highly doubt we’ll get this first try..” Goro shakes his head. “Nothing so far has been without a hitch.”

Approaching Cognitive Kashiwagi wasn’t easy for Ren. Given what the others had said, he wasn’t really willing to do this. But if he could do this…he’d probably be able to laugh about it later on down the road.

She notices him. “Oh, hello young man. Are you by chance…lost?” She chuckles. 

“Lost? Perhaps, but only in your eyes.” While he has his typical suave smirk on, inside he’s panicking like a swarm of birds.

Kashiwagi chuckles a bit. “My, aren’t you a flirt~. Say why don’t you come over here?”

Following her, the others are impressed. Minato seems to be taking mental notes. 

“I see…so this is how the current generation does it…”

Kashiwagi sits down, and starts to closely eye Ren. It’s uncomfortable, even for the others watching. 

“Yeah, this certainly is her alright..” Yu shakes his head. “Ren better get the key and fast…”

“Unfortunately, as it stands there’s only one way he could possibly get it…” Akechi states, looking over at his counterpart. “And I think it has just dawned on him.”

Ren seems slightly tense. He’d need to keep her occupied to get the key…but the only way he’d be able to do that is…

“…fuck that noise.  **_ARSENE!”_ **

She raises an eyebrow as the Persona is summoned.”Oh? You want play rough huh? Well I can go any way!” She turns into a sucubus, much to the surprise of everyone else.

“That idiot! He had it in the bag!” Chie sighs, facepalming. “So now what, do we jump in on the fight?”

Mitsuru shakes her head. “I wouldn’t risk it, they might have an easier time if we stay back here.”

“What about support?” Futaba chimes in.

“That’s a no go…she hates my guts so the same would be true for you two as well. Sempai and the rest are on their own.”

The fight begins, Ren drawing his knife as he attacks alongside his Persona.

“Oh how strong you are. But can you handle this?” She strikes him with her wings.

“AGH!”

She laughs. 

“We need to kill her, dammit but this things a Persona right? How do we kill it?” Yosuke asks, drawing his weapons. 

“We stab it and it dies.” Akechi states bluntly. “But gunfire should work as well.”

Minato nods. “Ren! You and your friends open fire on her. When the time is right we’ll all perform all out attacks. Are we clear on our plan?”

Yu draws his sword and nods. “Crystal.”

The Thieves draw their guns and unload on the Succubus. 

“AGH! This is not how you treat a woman!” 

Ryuji rolls his eyes. “You’re right. This is how you treat a _demon_.” With one final shot, she goes down.

The three leaders all smirk.

**_“All Out Attack!”_ **

Akihiko bumps his fists together nodding. “I’ve been waiting for this!”

In a cloud smoke they all strike before coming out of it…the Shadow is defeated as it bursts into black mist.

“The Show’s Over.” Ren smirks, walking away from the scene with the key. 

The girls are impressed, nodding as they guys rejoin. Ren is happily twirling the key on his right pointer finger in celebration.

“Easy as easy gets.” He laughs, his smirk in full force as he places his left hand on his hip.

“You know…we could have just attacked her from the start and bypassed all that bullshitting. She was just a shadow at the end of the day.” Adachi shakes his head.

“That aside…” Yosuke looks around the pool area. “Any of you know where this key goes? We couldn’t find it with the amount of time we had before Ren started fighting.”

“Maybe that door over there?” Rise points to a door on the other side of the pool. Compared to the rest, it has a much more pastel look to it. 

“Oh..that…that would make sense, yeah.” The brown haired Magician lets out an awkward laugh, silently kicking himself for not noticing something so obvious.

“Come on, the more time we waste the more people get trapped.” Minato leads the charge to the door.

_ Persona Training Center _

“W-What’s happening outside?!” 

The trio of rescued links are staring out at the window. Wolf shadows are bashing against what can only be described as a shield of some sort. 

Kou studies the area. It’s nothing but a sea of black and purple. But then amongst the pack, an unconscious man lies in the maw of a wolf. 

“Daisuke, isn’t that…” He starts to ask.

“Yeah, it’s that Kazushi guy from before…wasn’t he supposed to be with the other evacs?” 

Ai starts to back up a bit. “They didn’t…hunt down all those people did they?” She covers her mouth. 

Kou grabs a wooden training sword and tosses another to Daisuke. “We’re going out there!”

“But isn’t that dangerous? We can’t take on that many! We almost died last time we tried to fight them.” 

Ai grabs a bow. “We have to right? We might not have those stupid Perso..whatevers but we can still try to help. Those others aren’t here to do it.”

Daisuke takes a deep breath. “Fine, but run back if it gets to hairy.”

The trio run out, dead set on bringing the victim back in no matter what.

_ Tokyo _

Sae is looking at news coverage. Shadows have started appearing in larger numbers in the area. They seem to be hunting down something…or someone. She starts to type out what her findings so far…when the TV suddenly closes in on what a Shadow Wolf pack has found.

“What? Who the hell is that?” Her eyes focus on the screen.

_ “Is that all you got? This is just a warm up for me right now! Come on, try a little harder.”  _

A red haired young man with two swords is fighting off the Shadows with little effort.  He laughs, slicing though several. 

“Another Persona user maybe? Interesting…” Sae nods, watching the coverage even closer now.  “Where is he?”

_ Hollow Forest...? _

Opening the pastel door, the group finds themselves in a maze…with a strangely familiar layout. Yu and Minato look around as they start to walk through it.

“You guys…ever get a feeling that you’ve been somewhere before?” Yosuke asks, looking around the area as well. “Because I swear this feels familiar to me..”

Cards within bushes, and colored tiles abound. This is most certainly somewhere…but where? Akechi shakes his head. 

“If you can’t recall, then perhaps it’s a repressed memory? This is all based around memory correct?” Crow suggests. 

A Rabbit looks at the group, Yu gets a sense of Deja Vu. Carefully walking up to it, the rabbit flees. 

“Something is telling me we need to chase it…” He states to the group. 

“Well? Let’s get chasing.” Minato nods.

The party gives chase to the white rabbit, but it of course keeps fleeing with every attempt to catch it. Eventually the party stumbles upon a door after the rabbit vanishes completely.

One that’s way too tiny for any of them to enter. There’s also a table with bottles full of strange liquid that say “Drink Me”. 

“Okay now I’m getting serious deja vu!” Chie states, placing a hand on her cheek. “Why though? We’ve never been here before!”

Akechi studies the bottle’s contents carefully. “This feels too much like a book…”

“A book? Care to explain, Akechi?” Makoto looks at him hard. 

“Alice in Wonderland.”

Futaba nods, looking around. “Yeah, I was getting that feeling too. But if this is still doing puzzles from the past, then if something says to do it then we probably should right?”

“Drinking an unknown drink? It could be poisoned or something!” Mishima states, not even wanting to grab one. “Just because it might have happened before doesn’t mean it’ll work the same way! The last puzzle didn't work like before after all!”

Ren nods but then sighs. “Well, we could always just refresh our memories on ‘Alice in Wonderland’. What did the drink do in the book?”

“If I’m remembering it right, it shrunk Alice.” Ann states, thinking back. 

Ryuji looks down. “Yo, there’s a tiny ass door here. Think we need to drink that shit to get in then?”

“Seems so…” Minato nods, looking at the drinks. “But it seems there’s only enough for four of us…we need four people to agree to drink it.” 

But who all is willing to take the risk….?

After a while of debating, Ren impatiently grabs a vile. “We can’t keep wasting time like this. We have to get to the heart and fast, and if drinking this potion results in saving someone, then I’m going for it.”

Before anyone can object to his action, the frizzy phantom downs the whole drink and promptly shrinks. 

Yu and Minatio then look to each other and shrug, following suit with their younger friend. 

With three out of the four main Wild Cards shrunk down, it leaves one bottle left untouched. The rest are understandably conflicted. 

Chie looks around at the people near her before nodding. “I think Akechi-kun should drink it!” 

Crow looks at the bottle, before looking back at her. “Are you sure you don’t want to drink it yourself?”

“Pfft, so much for the brave Second Coming.” Kanji laughs. “You saw it happen to the others right? I kinda have a feeling you’ll be fine.”

Yosuke nods and smirks. “Yeah totally. Plus we’ll keep pestering you about this if you don’t go through with it.”

Begrudgingly, Akechi takes the last potion and joins the other wild cards. They start to go to the door, only for Koromaru to start sniffing them.

“Damnit! Koro no!” Minato tries, not like it would do much for this size. “Through the door, before we get a first hand look at what the inside of a Shiba looks like!”

_ Outside The Persona Training Center _

The trio rush in, trying their hardest to fight through the crowd of Wolf Shadows. But due to their lack of experience with the weapons grabbed, it’s not doing as fast of a job as they would have hoped.

“Damnit! These weapons can kill these things alright, but it’s like tearing through a flour sack…” Kou sighs, starting to wear out. “We’re not gonna reach him at this rate.”

“Well you were the one that said we should save him! Come up with a new plan!” Ai shouts, aiming the best she can at a shadow.

“Well…if this were a video game…there would be an easy way to dispatch them all..right?” Kou thinks out loud as he looks at their surroundings. 

That’s when a barrel is apparent, hanging on a lifted cliff not too far from where a decent chunk of the pack is crowded. 

“Maybe…hey Ai! Don’t fire at the Wolf, try that barrel instead.” He points. 

“I haven’t been right on the mark so far though…I’ve missed most of my shots..” She sighs.

Daisuke shakes his head. “We can’t hit it with what we have though, you’re our best shot…in both senses in the word.”

She takes a deep breath, and fires. Nudging the barrel just enough that it falls off the cliff and explodes into lightning. It apparently had a battle item or two in it. 

The shadows fade, and those that remain flee under the assumption that the Trio are in fact Persona users. Kaizushi is left behind as an end result. 

Kou and Daisuke carefully lift him up and start to carry him inside the building. He was defiantly attacked by the shadows as injuries litter his body.

Laying him down, Ai looks over the extent. “I can’t believe this…these monsters. Why take us? What did we do to them?!” 

Kou grabs a nearby med kit and starts to treat the injuries, only for Ai to stop him. 

“What’s up? Are you wanting to help, Ai?” He asks, tilting his head a bit.

“Why else would I be stopping you?”  

_ Behind the Small Door _

“Okay, being this small…not fun.” Ren sighs. “At least as a mouse you feel faster, but this? No way in hell…”

“Hey, isn’t that a key?” Akechi points to a key high in the bush. 

“Too high at our current height…” Yu sighs, shaking his head. “But…maybe if we got on each others shoulders…”

“We still wouldn’t be tall enough.” Ren jokes, laughing before he can even finish his thought. “Yeah I think someone else should have drank the potion other than Mina-”

“Don’t even start.”

“R-Right! Let’s just be glad we’re not in our swimsuits anymore.”

“Yu, you’re the tallest out of all of us so you should be the one we boost.” Akechi states.

“Should’t I be boosted though? It would work better that way.” Minato crosses his arms. 

“Ren, what do you think?” Yu asks.

“Yeah, lets go from tallest to shortest then.” Ren states. 

And so the four wild cards get on each others shoulders and awkwardly shuffle to the key, grabbing it after a bit of struggle they soon leave the area and regain their normal height.

“That key…it looks like a tree..” Haru states, marveling at it.

“We must be back in the forest again after this.” Ken nods, pointing to a nearby door. “We found this door while we waited. Since it’s the only other one with a lock,  it obviously goes in here.”

The group heads out, opening the door and leaving wonderland behind. 

But as they venture back into the unaltered woods, the air goes still….before small tremors begin

“W-What’s with all this shaking?!” Ann shouts, looking around.

Suddenly, the sounds of trees being ripped from their roots can be heard in the distance. 

“Earthquake! Damnit!” Ryuji yells, covering his head. “Should we try to run?”

Minato shakes his head. “It’s too risky…”

Morgna laughs. “Then I think we should drive.” Changing into the Mona bus, the group speeds past as the ground starts to give away all around them. 

“We have to find an exit!” Mitsuru states, looking at the destruction from the read window. “We still have a hostage…” 

“That would be easy if weren’t currently in a maze!” Ren yells back. “This is going to consume us all if we don’t figure out the right path.”

Akechi looks out the window near him and notices a raised up portion of land, forming a bit of a ramp like structure. 

“Joker! Try going top speed off that over there.” He states, pointing. 

“This isn’t the time for pulling stunts!” Yosuke shouts, annoyed and panicked. 

“No. If we can clear a section of this maze, we can make it to the end faster.”

“…I’m trusting it.” Speeding up, Ren drives the bus up the ramp, clearing a wall with ease. 

“YEOW! That was a rough landing…” Morgana yelps. “But…it did work. Let’s keep looking for ramps guys!”

The Bus swerves in and out, passing falling trees and broken bits of ground as the group clings to either the handles or each other as they brace themselves for the worst. The whole area is slowly being swallowed into itself.

_ Training Center _

Wounds finally all treated thanks to the medicine stored in the med kit, Kou and Ai both breathe a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness he’s okay…” Ai smiles, leaning back against the wall. “Do you think…this is what the others went through?”

Kou laughs and shrugs. “Probably, who knows? That’d be a question to ask them, after all.”

Daisuke tosses them both a bottle of water. “Here, I think after that crazy stuff, we all need this.” 

The trio are silent after that, reflecting on what all has happened so far. Eventually…Ai speaks up.

“Do you think…if we got those Persona things…we could help more? I mean…I just don’t like feeling like I have to be someone who only has to be saved...I want to help.”

Kou shakes his head. “We saw something, before you were rescued. One of the leader guys…Minato was it? He had something happen to him…and everyone was panicked. None of them seemed like they knew what to do..”

“They didn’t try to like…make it go away with their weird magic?”

“They did do something…but I couldn’t really see. I just saw Yu get really hurt trying to help. I don’t think getting those things makes you as strong as you think it does. I mean think about it, Yu had that back when we all met him.”

Ai laughs and nods. “Yeah, and he was nothing more then an awkward dork with a random talent for origami swans out of anything and making people smile.”

All three laugh at that statement.

“He understood a lot of people, but he dealt with stuff himself right? Maybe they are just like us, just…with a different way of helping…”

_ Tokyo _

The shadows in the streets of the capital have started to thin out. Their target however, still seems full of energy. 

“Come on! Is that seriously all you have?! All bark and no bite then I guess… HA!” The scar faced swordsman laughs.

Sae carefully walks over to him, keeping a close eye on the shadows. She had to know who this person was…and if he could help put an end to this invasion.

A wolf however notices her and starts to lunge at her, but with quick thinking Sae kicks it. The wolf gets pierced by her heels, falling to the ground limply before fading into mist.

This didn’t go unnoticed by the young man, who smirks. “Hey, that was kick ass.”

Sae studies him as a smile stretches across his face before fading almost instantly.

“Oh come on! You’re supposed to laugh!” He sighs, shaking his head. “Who the hell are you anyway?”

“That’s what I was about to ask you. You sure know a lot about shadows if you’re fighting them so easily. You wouldn’t happen to be a Persona user would you?” Sae asks, getting into a fighting stance just in case another wolf decides to lunge at her.

“So what if I am? You don’t look like one yourself so why would you care?” 

“That portion’s confidential, but I’m looking to try to help put an end to this shadow invasion…but I lost contact with some of the only other ones that could help.”

The young man laughs. “Lost contact? Somethings telling me you mean Narukami and his band of losers. Am I right?”

Sae looks surprised and nods a bit. If he didn’t question or know about the Phantom Thieves then that’s fine.. “You know Yu?”

“Know the guy? Tch, we’re practically rivals. I was actually about to head to Inaba to go see if there was anything attacking there worth taking on, but the train I was on got attacked itself.”

Sae lowers her head. The train system in Tokyo just can’t seem to catch a break, can it? “Was anyone hurt?”

He shakes his head. “Uh, no? I was on it. Killed the asshole and then I went shadow hunting…turns out _they_ were hunting _me_ though.”

Sae nods. “Well if they’re following you, then if you headed to a new location wouldn’t they chase after you there?”

“Damn you’re crazy, lady! But I guess you have a point. What though, you want me to head to Inaba?” 

“No, I want us both to head there. I have business there as well.” Sae sounds serious. 

“I take it back…you’re  _ batshit _ crazy.”

“Well Yu is probably  _ in _ Inaba, and if he gets a chance to take out all of the strong opponents..where does that leave you?” She’s already started to slowly figure out how he operates.

“Nowhere that’s what! Hey so do you have ride or something?”

Sae leads him to a motorcycle, in which he smirks upon seeing it. 

“You drive, I’ll try to keep the bastards off of us all the way to Narukami! It’s Sho time!”

They both get on, Sho getting his swords ready he balances himself behind Sae. 

This was going to be a dangerous ride, but if Sae could provide even one extra person to assist her sister…she’d feel just that much more safe. She steps on the gas as they tear through the streets, shadows hounding them down from the corners of each street. 


	7. A Sea Of Grey

_ The Crumbling Forest _

“The area’s closing in on us fast, Joker!” Futaba states, frantically looking at the data as Yusuke clings to her. 

“We need to pick up more speed!” Makoto shouts, gripping onto the nearest handle.

“This is as fast as we can go!” Ren growls, face sweating from the tense nature.

“WAIT! That looks like a door over there!” Junpei points. “Dammit though, there’s no ramp…we’ve jumped over like twelve so far…

“Morgana, is there a way you can get airtime without the assistance of driving off of something?” Yu asks, trying to figure out what they can do.

“I can hop but it’s not going to get us off more than a few inches….” The car sighs.

Ryuji suddenly snaps his fingers. “Yo Makoto, can you ride Anat?”

“I can, but why do you ask?” 

Ryuji reaches into the interior storage, what is normally Morgana’s pouch and pulls out some rope. “Attach this to the front of the bus and to Anat. You can make easier jumps and we’ll go along for the ride.”

“I think you’re missing a big issue here, bonehead.” Adachi rolls his eyes. “This cat isn’t exactly Aerodynamic.”

“It doesn’t need to be.” Naoto butts in. “We’ve learned so far from this place that cognition allows for all manners of things to occur. If Morgana can use that to his advantage, we’ll sail over to the door.”

Ryuji laughs. “See? I’m not  _ that _ stupid.”

Ren grunts, focusing more as he drives. “Well if you’re going to do it, then go quickly! We don’t have much time to waste!”

Makoto jumps out of the car with a nod. “ANAT!”

The Persona transforms into a rideable state and she gets on, driving in front of the bus as she stands on her Persona. The tricky part now was tying the rope to the front bumper as it moves…

_ The Japanese Highway _

“These wolves don’t seem to be slowing down any time soon, lady!” Sho shouts. “ **Tsukiyomi!** ”

Sho’s Persona attacks the perusing pack, with Sho himself taking strikes at any that get too close.

“Inaba should be getting close however!” Sae speeds up. “But…why aren’t there any cars on the road?”

The area is completely barren, with the duo being the only vehicle on it.

Growls from the perusing canine beasts can be heard. Sho smirks, laughing a bit, “They seem pissed. Maybe I should throw them a bone?” 

Tsukuyomi gets ready to attack, Sho has a wide sadistic grin on his face. “EAT THIS!” 

Abyssal Wings is cast, hitting the entire pack in one fell swoop. They all fall limp before fading into dust. 

“Bit off more than you could chew?  _ HA _ !”  

With no more Shadows chasing them, all they needed to do was reach the rural town. But who knows if more will show up?

_ The Forest _

Speeding up, Makoto pulling a bus loaded with people is proving to be slightly more tricky then she expected. Persona or no.

“Dude! We’re gonna reach a wall soon!” Yosuke looks out the window. “Ryuji…I seriously hope this plan actually works….”

The wild cards focus, staring at the wall as it fast approaches.

“Okay Makoto! Get read to jump in three…..”

“Two…”

“One….”

“JUMP!” Ren yells, and they make lift off.

They soar just enough to land right on the other side of the wall before it crumbles away and crash into the door…which holds the hostage…

Steam fills the area where the group crashed. Ren kicks the driver door open, coughing a bit. “That…could have gone a little bit easier.” He sighs.

A laugh is heard in the room. “Damn, you sure know how to make an entrance.” Ren knew that voice…

“Iwai?” He asks, moving past the Mona bus to see not only Untouchable’s Owner but his son as well.

“That you, Ren? Looks just like you did on that broadcast!” Kaoru smiles, looking over at the Phantoms get up.

“I take it you told him?” 

Iwai shakes his head, placing a hand in his pocket. “Na, he figured it out on his own. We actually came by because of that Meteor crash. It was just going to be a day trip but…”

Ryuji comes out. “You guys got captured?”

“Not really captured, we saw some other folks having trouble with what we thought were stray dogs. I went over to help out, only for one to nab Kaoru..” Iwai winces. “I chased the damn thing and wound up in this room where the door locked on us.”

Yu smiles, dusting himself off. “Well we can lead you both to a safe area. Just come with us.”

Heading back into the Mona bus, some of the others on board can already read the vibes Iwai gives off and are rightfully wary.

Yu makes a mental note that some of Ren’s allies must be a bit more serious then others, thinking back to Makoto’s sister. 

“The area seems kinda calm…” Chie looks around. “Normally there’s a lot of shadows in the area, but they seem to have thinned out.”

Mitsuru nods. “Perhaps they’re being killed off faster then we think?”

Minato cleans off his Evoker. “Or maybe…they have a new target in the real world.”

_ The Japanese Highway, Ten Minutes Until Inaba _

The sky above Sae and Sho has blackened. Sho looks straight up and shakes his head. 

“Seems they sent in an Arial assault. Wolves aren’t all they have after all. This is getting exciting!”

Sae winces, from the air they have an easier time to attack them. She needed to come up with a way to loose them. 

“I’ll try to find an alternate route! Can you keep them at bay, Sho?” 

He laughs and nods. “Might be a bit tricky but just keep driving!” 

He summons his persona and sends it into the sea of flying Shadows. An explosion is seen that takes out a bunch of them, but Sho is confused.

“Nice work.” Sae nods.

“Thanks but, I didn’t even attack!”

A chopper comes into view, with Labrys in it. Sho scoffs.

“Couldn’t just leave me, huh?”

“Ay! You’re heading to Inaba too, aren’t ya?” The robot calls out. “Let us give you a lift the rest of the way.”

Sae nods, answering before Sho can. “The assistance is greatly appreciated!”

The motorcycle stops as the chopper lands, Sae drives it in to board it and they take off. Sae looks around and notices the logo.

“This is…Kirijo….” She looks impressed. “So they’re involved with Persona research as well I take it?”

Labrys studies Sae carefully. “You don’t seem like a user…but this is a crisis and you were transporting this guy to Inaba so you’re trustworthy….enough.”

Sho doesn’t seem to be too happy to be in the chopper, sitting in an area by himself and not speaking. “Just let me know when we can get back to fighting…” He closes his eyes in annoyance.

Sae takes out her laptop and starts to look over what has happened. “All of Inaba is under lock down…police are out all around trying to deal with the shadows.”

Labrys nods. “Yeah, not like they’re gonna do much without the right gear though. Our friends are in the TV World right now, freeing hostages…but something bugs me about that part.”

Sho opens an eye. “And what might that be, exactly?”

“We didn’t see any shadows in big numbers until we came up to you guys.”

Sae takes notes on the observation and nods. “That is true, Sho mentioned he was getting targeted as far back as on a train. But you’re a Persona user yourself right? Why aren’t they chasing you?”

“That’s what I wana know!”

“Maybe…it has to do with what sets me apart from you. I have that stupid…Wild Card thing or whatever. Maybe they seem like I’m more worth their time?” Sho laughs.

“This is no joking matter, but if what you say is right…are they’re more Wild Cards?” Sae questions, hands placed on the table. 

Labrys gives a solid nod. “Yeah. Yu-kun is one, and Mitsuru-san had a former team member who was one as well. And recently, there was that Joker guy, Ren. And that’s all we know of.”

Sae’s expression hardens. “Sho, it might be best if you don’t go into the TV then…if more than one of those wild cards are together…it might make it harder.”

He slams his fist down. “I’ll do whatever the hell I want, alright! Tch, me being there I can just tear through the place and-”

“Get yourself killed.” Labrys shakes her head. 

_ Persona Training Center _

The group gets out of the Mona bus, Minato leading the way inside the building. “We’ll get you both situated while we go over where we should go in next.”

Stepping inside, Minato sees Kazushi who in turn sees him and has an expression like he’s just seen a ghost….

Minato is tense, not prepared to see anyone else he became friends with since his passing. Kazushi stands up and goes to try to confirm what he’s seeing. 

“You’re…not just something in my head are you? You died! We all were at the ceremony back in high school.”

Minato nods a bit, smiling sadly. “I’m…actually here.”

He shakes his head in disbelief. “You don’t look like you’ve changed a bit, Minato. I…”

He offers a hand, smirking. The others are looking outside, not wishing to disturb the moment. The two shake hands as a way of confirming Minato is indeed, alive. 

The rest then file in, Iwai and son both a bit confused. Kou notices them and waves, offering them seats at the table much the same as before. 

But this time, everyone sits down. Futaba takes out her laptop and uses her Persona to provide an image of everything so far. 

“Okay everyone, let’s review. From the culmination of three dungeons, outside conflicts and internal struggles we now have enough data to start to figure out our threat.”

Kou leans back in his seat. “Those wolf things started appearing shortly after the meteor landing a day prior. Several of us here went to check it out, if I’m remembering correctly.”

Ai stares at her hands. “Kids were taken away, thee boys and three girls. But there were others attacking in Okina looking for targets.”

Mishima nods. “Yeah, like me and Yu’s cousin. They were hunting people close to any Wild Card.”

Iwai looks at the group around him. “They sound like they were using different tactics right? Kids get taken in one instant, and when that doesn’t work they go straight for the close friends and family. They aren’t stupid that’s for sure..”

Aigis looks over Futaba’s data and points something out. “We must not forget that they tried to corrupt our friends. They tried different methods for Minato and Yu in that case.”

“It’s all based around Lovecraftian lore. Which is backed up more by who I encountered in the Castle sewers.” Akechi looks at every one.

“Nyarlathotep, correct?” Minato asks, nodding. “You made an assumption that Deathbringer, our initial antagonizer might not actually be on level footing with him. Well I think I have evidence to back it up.”

Everyone turns to look at Minato with curiosity.

“When he was in my head, he took on a much more human look. He looked no older then Seventeen…”

“So…you’re implying that old death might be human?” Junpei asks. “But he can float and do all that other weird stuff! We can’t even pull that off.”

“Well, there is a chance he might have been alive…at one point.” Naoto suggests.

Chie gulps. “I..I hate to ask but, where are you going with that thought Naoto?”

“It’s just as I said, he might be someone who died in the TV world only to be reanimated.”

“Except, there’s a hole in that theory.” Adachi chimes in. “Have you forgotten what normally happens if you die here?”

Yosuke lowers his head and nods a bit. “The corpse appears back in the real world…”

Teddie blinks, looking around. “That may have happened during the murders because of the test going on, but this world has existed for a lot longer then that. It’s connected deeply to Persona after all.”

Mitsuru nods. “So the theory would still hold ground if the death happened prior to 2011…”

“Hold up though, I still have a question. In movies n’ shit you need to be like…possessed to be reanimated. Ether that or it’s some voodoo magic. How would that actually work here?” Ryuji leans back in his seat.

“Shadows.” Morgana states. “It’s as simple as that. But…as far as I’m aware this isn’t common.”

Ren taps his fingers on the table. “So, what we have is some god using a possible corpse puppet to enact revenge for the failure of other gods? At least that’s what I’m getting at here. But this feels a lot more on edge then normal.”

Rise gasps. “Guys I hate to interrupt this but, the dungeons…they’ve somehow left the TV World!”

“No way!” Futaba checks the data herself. “…she’s not kidding. There’s some sort of leak. Fogs rolling in too…”

“This isn’t good, we haven’t been able to save the rest of the captured people!” Ann looks worried. “What do we do? Leave the TV?”

“We have to, it seems that our friends are trying to do something…more people will be in danger if fog starts to cover the area.” Yu stands up. “Shadows thrive in it. I wouldn’t be surprised if stronger ones start to appear. We need to go out there!”

Kou and the other rescued stand up. “Where do we go then?”

“Stay here still. If both this world and the real world are melding, then this is the safest place you can be in right now.” Yosuke states.

Ren tosses Iwai a model gun. “Picked up a spare in a Palace I was in last year. Shadows think it’s real so this will be your best  way of fighting any of them off.”

Iwai smirks. “This explains why you needed my goods. Don’t worry, get out there and do what needs to be done. I’ll handle things here.”

_ Inaba Skies _

_ “Fog has rolled in!”   _ Kikuno states over the intercom.  _ “This does not bode well for us!” _

“Fog…” Sho nods. “Something happened in that other world. Things are starting to get interesting.”

Sae looks out the nearby window and sees a sea of grey mist covering the area. 

“Makoto…please…be safe.”

The town of Inaba, now shrouded in a grey fog lay almost completely bairn of human life. The police have ordered a complete lock down for all businesses, hospitals and homes. No one was to leave the building they currently occupy.

The police themselves are on every stretch of road. Including Detective Dojima, who was guarding his own home. 

“These beasts are getting more and more active as the day goes on…” He sighs, looking up at the sky as he hears a sound. “Is that a chopper? Did that Nijima lady call for Tokyo Reinforcements? I wasn’t given the heads up though…”

But a shadowy person can be seen running and jumping from building to building on the roofs. Dojima seeing this, immediately  pulls out his gun. 

“Freeze! Just who do you think you are kid?!” He shouts. “A lock down was called, did you not hear?”

The figure just smirks, revealing it’s sharp teeth as it draws twin knives and jumps to ground level. Now more visible, it’s clearly another shadow. One that’s mimicking the appearance of Yosuke Hanamura but with attire much different then normal as it dons an almost cult like robing. The detective is confused.

“W-What the hell?!” 

The Shadow goes to attack him, but someone jumps in the way of the strike and blocks it as the weapons start to scrape against one another.

“Yu?!” The detective looks up to see his nephew, sword drawn. 

“They’ve gone as far as making copies of all of us…creative. Uncle get inside, none of the police have the right tools to fight these guys off!”

“You should listen to him, Dojima-san.” Adachi states, walking up casually.

“Adachi? But how are you out?” 

“Does that really matter right now? Even if I was still locked up, I’d still somehow help.” He sighs.

Ryotaro shakes his head. “I appreciate you both wanting me to get to safety, but I have to do this.”

“If you’re going to be stubborn, then at least let me back you up.” Adachi states, smirking a bit. “You won’t get far without a Persona after all. Plus we need to make sure Nanako is safe, right?” 

Dojima nods. “If that’s what it’ll take then I’ll go for it. Go on Yu, I’m sure more people need your help, we’ve got it from here.”

Yu nods “Right!” He heads out.

But in the skies, Sae, Sho and Labrys are having a hard time finding a safe spot to land. 

“Dammit, there’s too much fog…” Labrys sighs. “We could always just jump but I don’t know if Sae-san will make the landing like us..”

“Well, maybe we could-” But then something lands on top of the chopper which causes Sho to stand up. 

“What the hell? Are we being attacked by shadow crows again?” But looking out the window, he sees what looks like Yu in a cult robing trying to break in.

“Worse! It’s a Yu lookalike!” Labrys gets her axe ready. “Sae-san get to safety!”

“There’s nowhere for me to run, so I’m going to help.” She takes out a gun. “All we have to do is kill it right?”

Down in the shopping center, Ren is having to fend off wolves and lookalikes of his close friends.

“Yu, Minato status update!” Ren states from the com link set up from Futaba’s Persona as he keeps fighting.

_ “The high school’s no longer a normal place, it’s shaped like how Tartarus was! And tons of copies of what look like other Persona users are coming out! But these users aren’t anyone we know!”  _ Minato states.

_ “Residential areas are teeming with shadow beasts. And there’s a chopper under attack by a copy of myself.”  _ Yu reports. 

“Tch, go try to assist that chopper if you can. Oracle provide backup!” Joker orders. 

_ “You got it, Leader!” _

Rise runs up. “You need backup yourself, Joker?” She smiles.

“Navigator help would be nice, but combat is what I really need right now.”

The Idol giggles. “Funny you should say that, I can actually fight with my Persona too!”

“Seriously? Well in that case I’d love the help.” He smirks.

The whole group is scattered, searching for the entrance to save the next captive. But with these Shadow Copies lurking, this was going to prove more tricky then first thought.

The hordes of shadows rampage through out the town. Naoto is exchanging fire with a Shadow trying to blend in with the police.

“Tch, this isn’t working as well as I would have hoped. Futaba, any read on where hostages are located?”

_ “No such luck I’m afraid! They have to be cloaked somehow.” _

Naoto sighs before summoning her persona to finish off the Shadow. “Well just keep supporting Yu. Perhaps we can use that chopper to get a wider scan of the area.”

Yu has managed to get to roof, and with Izanagi at his side he challenges his doppelganger.  “Down here!”

The Shadow stops attacking the window upon hearing Yu’s shout and gives a sadistic grin. 

“Not much of a talker, huh? Well fine, I’d rather finish this fast.” The two start to fight, which angers Sho.

“DAMMIT. I’m heading out there!” The sun holder grabs his swords, running for the hatch.

“Are you insane? We’re in the air!” Sae yells, trying to stop him. 

“I’ve done shit like this before, hold your horses lady.” And with that he jumps out of the chopper and quickly joins Yu on the roof.

“Sho? I didn’t expect to see you here.” Yu is surprised.

“I’m not just gonna let you in on the fun by yourself. I’ll help just this once, but you owe me a match afterwards.” Sho gets into a fighting stance.

“It’s a deal.”

Meanwhile at the former location of Yasogami High, Minato is trying to fend off the mystery shadows. They, as well as the Shadow copies are using mockery Persona to fight. 

“Damnit! I could use some back up here guys!” He calls.

_ “Skull here, I’m on my way to your location!” _

_ “Fox here, I’ll be there soon!” _

_ “Mona here. I’ll transport these idiots.” _

Minato nods. “If my theory is right, then the reason why we can’t find the other locations is because they’re centralized here…layered up like that tower was…”

_ “Chie here, you sure about that?” _

_ “He has a solid point, you know. If all of this is workn’ offa cognition like the forest was, then wouldn’t it make sense to recreate something like Taru..tarys” _

_ “You were…so close Kanji. So close.” _

_ “Hey you losers can do this call thing now? Mind if I butt in?” _

_ “Whoa hold on, is this Sho I’m hearing?” _

_ “It sure is, Captian Ressentiment .” _

_ “S-Shut up!” _

Minato shakes his head. “Focus you guys. Sho is it? Do you have anything worth while to tell the rest of us?”

_ “Yeah. I was in that chopper with Labrys a few minutes ago. Fog was slowly starting to stretch out of Inaba. If you all are gonna kill this thing for good, then you might want to kill it at the source.” _

Rise and Ren are fighting off some of the Shadow Thieves. Ren draws his pistol and he opens fire.

“If the source is what Minato found, then we have a huge ass tower to climb right?”

Rise backs him up by attacking shadows that get close to him. “Seems like it, but we might need to be wary. They’re hunting wild cards after all and since Sho is also one, they’re even more riled up…”

_ “You kids need to get to that tower.” _

_ “You’re going to hang back here Adachi? I thought we’d be working together this whole deal.” _

_ “Someone has to stay behind to kill the stragglers right? Might as well have it be someone who knows the town well enough.” _

_ “Labrys here, I’ll help in getting to the tower. But we still have the issue of these lookalikes right?” _

The Shadow resembling Yosuke appears beside the Shadow mimic of Yu. They both go to attack the two roof bound wild cards.

“Yeah! They don’t seem to kill as easily as normal Shadows.”

Sho slices the Yu shadow, only for the part that got sliced to reform. 

“They reform! Think that might be a key?”

Futaba gasps. “We need to fight them all together! Everyone, lead the mimics to Minato’s location. This is gonna work like a Dynasty Fighters game!”

_ “Futaba are you sure that’s a safe idea?” _

“Totally. It’d be an army v an army right? Except ours is much cooler!”

Yu nods. “You all heard her, bait the Mimic Shadows to the Yasogami High Tower!”

The two unknown Persona user shadows get ready to strike as the both draw guns. The pure yellow in their eyes shows that they aren’t going to back down easily. Minato needed support.

And fast.

“Come over here dumbass!” Ryuji calls out, taunting the nearby mimics as he honks the horn on the Mona bus. 

The mob of mimics start to form slowly, as each Persona user starts to gather them. 

_ “Akihiko here, the mimics of Ren and Ann are tailing me!” _

_ “Mishima here, Mimic Mona and Mimic Teddie are with me!”  _

_ “Naoto reporting in, I have my own mimic as well as Kanji’s. Heading to rendezvous.” _

Minato breathes heavily, a familiar feeling creeping up on his shoulders as he studies the enemies before him. “These Persona…no these Shadows mimicking Persona. Amen Ra and Apollo right? You two came before me then I presume…” 

He draws his sword once more. “You might not be true representations of who you look like, but perhaps I can prove myself a worthy successor.  **MESSIAH** !”

_ “Joker here, Mimics of Skull and Fox are tailing me and Rise. Coming to the meeting point!” _

_ “Yu checking in, my mimic and Yosuke’s are following me and Sho.” _

_ “Okay team keep it up. Once they’re all at the tower it’s time to kick ass. ehehe!” _

_ “Mitsutru here, how are you holding up Minato? You’re outmanned aren’t you?” _

“I’ll be fine. I never feared death before, so why would I now? Plus, I’m learning more about these unknowns by battling them.”

He dodges a fire attack from the ‘Persona’ Apollo and responds with one of his own. 

“These persona they’re using come from the sea of souls. They’re corrupted. Much like that cognition we fought before.”

_ “Corrupted Persona huh? But if these are based offa actual people then, they couldn’t use them…right?” _

_ “Not exactly Kanji. When Joker was in Palaces we could fight a Jack Frost while he had a Jack Frost. So it’s likely these are just another version of Amen Ra and Apollo. But this is just theoretical.” _

Minato nods his head. “Thanks for the insight, Akechi, “

_ Deep Within Yasogami Tower _

Reapers lurk the halls, chains echoing the quiet areas. The remaining victims lay bound in a room unconscious, with Deathbringer looming over them.

His ‘Partner’ stands beside him, offering a hand on his shoulder.

“This is the way you wished it to be, wasn’t it? Humans need to learn the place in the world, and people like us are the only ones to show them the way.”

But Deathbringer does not speak.

“Are you questioning the actions taken? You said yourself that you wished to lead humans into a new age. And I granted you the power in exchange for my own wishes to be fulfilled. We are partners in contract, and it’s too late to turn back, you know. You’ve known this from the start…

Maou.”

As the mob of mimics reach Yasogami Tower, the Persona users all group up.

“So how are we going to handle this trash mob?” Futaba smirks.

“Much like every shadow we have fought before, they seem to be tough as nails to kill. It’s that Hydra…whatever right?” Ryuji asks, readying his steel pipe.

Akechi nods. “For the most part. But it seems to be on slightly different principals. They reform but didn’t multiply….so..”

Naoto adjusts her hat as she looks to the group. “They rely on the others to stay whole.”

The Mimics charge the Persona users fast, the ones Minato’s facing attempting to perform a pincer attack.

“If we just need to defeat them all at once, then why don’t we tire them out before letting loose?” Kanji smirks.

“Alright guys, act on your own but aim to kill!” Ren orders.

The Mimics and Users clash, as each person fights their mimic. Minato is outnumbered still however.

“The two unknowns are dead set on fighting Minato…” Junpei observes. “But why?”

“Maybe they have beef with him for some reason?” Ryuji suggests. “I have no clue why if we don’t know ‘em though.”

Ren narrowly dodges an attack from his Mimic’s Arsene. “Damn they’re not playing around…”

Yu nods as he blocks strikes from his. “Yeah…we should try to end this fast. We still have a whole tower to climb and if we get tired here…who knows what will happen then.”

Sho laughs, knocking his own mimic back. “Well if you want a quick finisher why not just nuke ‘em?”

“What does this guy mean by that exactly?” Ann asks, swinging her whip at her mimic’s ‘Persona’.

“If we all cast at around time it should kill them all.”

“Are you sure about this? Have you tested it yourself?” Haru questions, axing her lookalike.

“Uh, how would I have a chance to? It’s not like I ran into a lot of Persona users while I was traveling the country.”

The battle is tense as is but now they were risking hurting each other, and damaging the city around them. 

“Well, are gonna do it or what?!” Sho yells impatiently. 

“We’d be possibly putting people in danger…but…what other option do we have…” Yu sighs.

“We have to try…” Minato states firmly. “If we freeze up here we won’t survive much longer.”

_ Persona Training Center _

Ai looks out the window of the front of the Gym turned safe haven. Shadows are seen roaming a street, but a large shadow of a tower darkens the area. Combined with the grey fog, it bares no good will.

“Well, are we in Inaba again Ai?” Kou asks, leaning forward in his chair.

Ai clutches the shirt that has been draped around her shoulders, responding with a solid shake of the head. “I…I have no clue. I see shadows still. But a literal shadow too. It’s a big building I think.”

Iwai’s expression hardens. “There isn’t any tall buildings in this part of the country though. Why the hell would one show up out of the blue?”

“Well, maybe it’s because of the whole merging thing they mentioned before?” Daisuke suggests. “A building appearing out of the blue sounds paranormal so it’d make sense.”

Suddenly a loud explosion is heard, with a flash that hurts the eyes to look at. Everyone shields themselves from the brightness.

“The hell?! Was that a flash bang?” Iwai stands up. “What are those kids doing…”

“Should we try to help them, Dad?” Kaoru asks, but Iwai responds with a non verbal no.

“These three might have saved this guy before, but they had issues. Stepping out here would mean going straight into a war zone. We’re armed to defend, not to attack.”

A Motorcycle is heard driving towards them. Everyone seems confused. 

“Didn’t they arrive in a car?” Kazushi asks.

Kou picks up a wooden sword, ready to defend the area from a shadow assault. 

The bike screeches to a halt, the driver stepping off and approaching the door. But between the fog and general darkness caused by the large tower, no one can see who the person is.

“One of us should go to the door and make sure it’s a real person…” Iwai suggests. “Who has the guts?”

The room is quiet. The figure knocks on the glass a few times, pointing to the door handle. 

Ai looks to Kou, worried a bit. “You’re armed…and we were the only ones who fought any of those monsters. So…”

He nods, heading up to the door with Iwai following close behind. Using his phone, the basketball player shines a light on the person before them. Revealing it to be Sae Nijima. 

Everyone sighs, and opens the door to let her in. 

“I don’t blame you all for being cautious…thank you. Are you all refugees from the Shadow attacks?”

Iwai nods. “You could say that. Had a whole group of people bail us out.”

She sighs, looking at the facility. “This building doesn’t feel man made. It has the same feeling everywhere outside does. Is this from there as well?”

“Uh, we’d love to answer more questions miss but I’d like to get your name first.” Kou states, sitting back down.

“Forgive me. I’m Sae Nijima, a former prosecutor from Tokyo. And…from my records from my last case I know of at least you, Munehisa Iwai.” She looks right at the airsoft shop owner.

“..Tch. I don’t know how the hell you figured out I was connected to the kid but given the SIU’s reputation…I’m sure you had some underhanded way.”

“So uh, Sae-san. What brings you here? Are you a Persona user like the others?” Kazushi asks.

She shakes her head. “My sister is, I’m just simply providing aide. I was checking for anyone that might need help.”

“Well this is a safe zone, we’re here because back in that other world this was the only safe spot in it. Apparently it’s where they train?” Daisuke states.

“That explains the appearance at least. Have they told you all about what’s going on? They must surely have a better understanding.”

They all respond with a nod.

“Then tell me everything. How did this happen, and what is being done to stop it?” 

Sae sits down at the table, laptop open as she begins to hear the rescued Link’s recount of all the events. Both their own, and what they had heard from the Persona team.

“From what we understand, all of this happened after infighting between two of the groups.” Iwai leans back in his seat. “When the kids rushed out to go investigate the merging, some of them mentioned how this could be worse ‘Then when Yu and Ren were fighting’.”

Sae nods, typing out the information. “This lines up with my own involvement with that short investigation. Yu Narukami came into contact with me trying to gain information on the Phantom Thieves. But I was notified to stay on guard ever since Shido’s arrest.”

Kou places his folded arms on the table. “Then there’s Minato. Apparently according to Kazushi here, he’s been dead since 09 yet here he is looking as old as he was when he passed.”

“Someone…rose from the dead? Impossible.” 

The Basketball player shrugs. “With all that’s happening right now, I’d believe just about anything I was told.”

“…clearly there’s some information there that we don’t know about. But he came back? And this was after the Meteorite crash correct?”

“Seems so. According to this notebook that Haru left behind, that’s the order of events. Deathbringer as they call him, attacked Ren when he went back in the TV to heal his wounds only to be saved by Minato.” Ai points the text out to Sae.

She nods and looks at the next point. “From there they started investigating a sudden shadow outbreak and moved to saving kidnapped victims and…wait am I reading this part correctly. ‘Encountered Akechi and Adachi’.” Sae looks shocked yet slightly relieved.

Kou nods, a serious look on his face. “Yeah, the two tried to save us but kinda failed due to lack of coordination.”

“But Akechi’s supposed to be…”

“Dead, I presume?” Iwai looks at her hard. “Yeah, half of Tokyo has started to assume that he died under mysterious causes due to his role in the Phantom Thieves investigation. I got a few regulars mentioning it off and on.”

“Well, if he’s alive…maybe I can finally properly interrogate him…after this is all over that is..” Sae smiles barely.

“Well, the notes get kinda weird from here.” Kazushi points out. “Seems something happened to Minato after saving these two. You guys know about it?”

Daisuke nods. “He seemed to have chest pains and slipped off to the bathroom. A while later we all heard him screaming and found him in some sort of trance…”

“And was he pulled out?” Sae doesn’t look up from her laptop as she types.

“Yeah, somehow. Yu and Ren did something but we have no clue what.” Kou sighs.

“Nothing else noteworthy happened except for ‘Yosuke taken, Yu fleeing, castle trap, Crawling Darkness…’“ Ai seems to be reading through it faster.

“Hold on, these are all important.” Sae stops her, looking over it herself. “From what I can gather, something has it out for the leaders of the groups…and Akechi. They targeted you all too…” 

She starts to ask something, when something rams against the front door. Everyone tenses up. 

“Another Shadow?” Sae stands up, looking to the door. “I thought you all said this place was secure!”

Ai shakes her head. “It’s supposed to be!”

“…maybe it’s no longer safe because we merged.” Kaoru suggests. “Like CO2. Oxygen might still be in it, but it doesn’t mean it’s safe.”

Loud crashes are heard from the roof, the Shadows are trying to break in to the gym any way possible.

Sae sighs and looks to everyone. “Grab whatever weapon in this facility you can use. Any sort of staff or spear if you need something simple to use.”

They all nod and rush to get weapons. Sae takes out a model pistol, readying herself. 

“Barricade all the doors. If this place isn’t safe anymore then we have to  _ make  _ it safe.” Iwai orders. “Grab chairs, tables, even punching bags if they’re heavy enough. Aim to make it hard for ‘em.”

They all get to work barricading the area. The group needed to hold out as long as they could. There is no Persona back up this time.

_ Deep Within Yasogami Tower _

Maou is silent, sitting on a chair within one of the highest points of the tower overlooking TVs, Coffins, and Cages strewn about with only the symbols of Arcana to decorate them.

Nyarlathotep stands behind him, arms folded on the head rest of the chair. He laughs, and seems to look to his ally as if to expect him to join in. 

But Deathbringer, does not speak. 

“You hold on to the lingering remains of humanity you have like a moth to a nearly melted candle. If you worry this much, then speak.”

“Nyx, Yaldaboth, even Chronos. They all ceased their duties after influence by them correct? You wish to hinder any servants of Philmon. And I…no longer know what I desired.” The cloaked goul states, looking to the ceiling.

“This is correct. Humanity itself has attempted to bring the Apocalypse upon itself. But as long as Philmon’s direct servant seeks out the Wild Cards…they will be stopped. But this shall no longer happen. If we can at all, I wish to force a door open to that damnable room and kill him where he stands.” 

“…but the Wild Cards would hinder that, since he is not a stranger to calling for help. Correct?” 

The Crawling Darkness nods. “Unleashing the shadows, and forcing all of the Wild Cards out of hiding was simple. The somewhat hard part was forcing that seal to be lifted. All it took was simply ‘Erasing’ the threat long enough for the boy to come into the living. If he dies by my hand. Nothing can prevent The Fall.”

“And what will you do after it happens?”

“You shall find out in due time, Deathbringer.”

_ Yasogami Tower Outskirts _

_ “Targets are down!”  _ Futaba confirms.  _ “But it looks like they retracted into goop. They’re not gonna die! Seems like our theory was wrong..."” _

“We need to take this time to run in then. If they need to reform, then that means we need to make as much headway into the tower ASAP.” Mitsuru looks to everyone. “Make a formation based on your range, element, fighting style and everything in between. Keep our Wild Cards encircled.”

“Reload your guns everyone, we’re busting this Tower and coming out on top.” Ren adds, reloading his pistol as his teammates do the same with theirs.

“Move!” Minato shouts, as the formation is formed and the group heads in. 

_ In front of the Dojima Residence _

_ “Adachi, this is Futaba do you read? We could really use your help in here you know!” _

Adachi laughs, shaking his head. “Sorry kid, but I can’t abandon my post. Someone has to keep the stragglers at bay.”

_ “The Shadows are going after the wild cards you know! They’re all gonna leave.” _

“No, at this point they’re after lives. So even if you’re striking the leader the drones are still acting on the last order given.”

Futaba is heard sighing on the other end.  _ “Well you do have a point…. Keep an eye out for Mimics then. We managed to down them but somehow we couldn’t kill them.” _

“Right.” Adachi reloads, looking over to Dojima beside him.

“You touching base with the others I take it? Where are they?” 

“Heading into that huge tower where the High School’s supposed to be.” Adachi gestures to the area with his head. “Which means we have the town to still watch over.”

Marie limps over to the two, holding her stomach. “You two…are fighting those Shadows right? Need help?”

“Aren’t you the weather girl? What are you doing outside?” Dojima asks, looking over her to see where she’s injured. 

“Right now that doesn’t matter, I can fight. And you’re gonna need any sort of back up you can get. I can stop hurting if they can get rid of the crap in this place after all.” She stands up straight, dusting herself off.

Dojima looks to Adachi. “Can she be trusted?”

“Yeah, she’s got her own so we might as well.”

“….how many of you people are in this town?” Dojima is getting more and more confused as the day goes on.

_ LeBlanc, Tokyo _

Sojiro calls Sae, hoping to hear back from her. “Her sister’s out there too right? Maybe she has a better idea…”

_ “This is Nijima, what’s the status in Tokyo right now?” _

“According to the news, the sightings have been more pinpointed. But no one seems to be hurt yet. Thankfully. Are you in Inaba?”

_ “Yes, but there’s an issue. That world that Ren and the others were in somehow merged with ours. And from how it’s feeling here…it’s spreading.” _ Banging can be heard in the background as she speaks.  _ “What does it look like outside to you?” _

Sojiro looks out his door’s window to see slight warping in the streets. “It seems a bit off. Should I be concerned?”

_ “Very much so. If it’s changing there, then you might be targeted. You’re among Ren’s trusted after all. Is anyone in the Cafe right now?” _

“No, most people hurried home after the first sighting happened. It’s just me right now.”

_ “Barricade any doors you have, windows too.” _ The banging on the line gets louder. _ “Do you have any of Ren’s other contacts info?” _

“Not personally, but I’m sure he must have written down numbers up in the attic last year..”

_ “Try to find them and tell them to get somewhere safe.” _

“Right. I’ll do what I can.”

_ Yasogami Tower Lobby _

The group rush in, running to the stairs that would lead them to the first major floor. The had to hurry, time is of the essence. With mimics behind them and the world slowly being swallowed up by the spreading dark fog, they had to stop this.

But as they climb the long staircase a person stands in the doorway.

Someone no one would have expected. 

“It’s been a while….S.E.E.S.”

 


	8. Fate Finds A Way

Sho’s grip on his blades waver. “Aren’t you….dead?”

“We saw you lose your balance on Tartarus! My father shot you! How are you..” Mitsuru shakes her head in disbelief.

“The answer is simple, I was given a second chance to rule this world.” Ikusuki laughs, adjusting his glasses with a wicked smile. “There are a few of us loyal to he who rules the Shadows.”

Akechi shakes his head in disbelief. “So he’s gained a small selection of human followers…much like how Shido did with Yaldaboth. Deplorable…”

Junpei looks straight in. “Look we don’t want to fight. Just move outta the way.”

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to ascend. I was granted knowledge about how The Fall was prevented before. Our new recruit turned out to be the reason, right?” He draws a gun, pointing it at Mintao. “It was because of his sacrifice that the world being wiped clean was halted. But if he were to die by any other means? Then there’d be no stopping it.” 

Minato’s gaze at the false chairmen hardens. “You’d really attempt to shoot me. With what’s happened so far, I’d just come back again.” 

Sho looks over at the blue haired kid. “No…I think you coming back to life might have just been another cog in the plan.”

“Ah, so you did wisen up over the years. Seems my efforts weren’t to waste.” 

“Mintao’s revival was…just to restart the Fall?” Yukari looks down. “But…then….”

Yosuke gets into a fighting stance. “Nyrthowhatever’s plan from the start was to wipe out human life!”

Sho shakes his head. “There were so many screwed up shit you Kirijo people did. You built artificial weapons. Sure two of them might be sort of okay, but those others? They’re gone, but they suffered. And then all those artificial Persona users! I might be one of the few to come out fine…but I know what happened to most of them. And now you’re gonna drag everyone down your batshit power lust moment? To hell with that!” 

“Sho you don’t have to fight-” Yu starts to say but Sho just shakes his head as he hold us a hand to interrupt him. 

“I have too many questions I need answering. You all go ahead, I’ll catch up.” The Scar Faced Persona-user gets into a fighting stance.

“…we’ll deal with you later.” Mitsuru shakes her head as the others start to rush past him. 

“I won’t let you leave! That seal needs to be destroyed!” Shuji aims at Mintao as his finger gets ready to pull the trigger, only for Sho to kick the gun out of his hand. 

“Not a chance. We haven’t gotten to have any real bonding, and I’ve just been dying to show my  _ gratitude _ for how you treated me all those years.”

Ryuji looks behind him as they keep running. “I hope he’s gonna be okay…it’s rough…confronting anyone who’s treated you like that…” 

Yu smiles, putting a hand on Ryuji’s shoulder. “I think he’ll be fine. Sho’s strong willed. And I have faith in him.”

Akechi looks around the room. “No sign of any hostages so far…but these symbols…”

The area is littered with tarot imagery, warped and twisted pictures. Shadows can be heard in corridors ahead. This truly is the second coming of Tartarus.

“We’ll need heavy navigation moving forward. Fuuka, Rise, Futaba…we’re counting on you.” Mintato states, to which the three girls nod in response. “My being here might just be a means to a god’s end but punishing him for his poor choice will be all the more satisfying.”

“Navigation’s a go! Shadows are swarming, and I’m picking up faint Persona readings as well.” Futaba states. “If it’s those other ‘chosen’ then we all better buckle in for a hard fight.”

Akihiko looks up, silently nodding. 

Sho glares down at his adoptive parent. His expression is conflicted yet still showing sparks of anger. 

“You treated me like shit, kept me from interacting with others as apart of your experiment. Yet you payed for my medical bills, and left me with all your money after you died. What the hell is your deal then?! Do you give a shit about me? Or am I really just another kid dragged in for experiments just like the rest?” 

Metallic footsteps echo within the hall of the entryway. Sho looks behind him to see mangled remains of Anti-Shadow weapons before him. 

“…that’s gonna be all you have to answer huh? Fine. You pretty much showed me the best way to get to know a person is to fight them. So let’s start bonding.” 

_ Yasogami Tower, Block ?? _

_ “Hey, are you awake?”  _

_ “He’s got scratches on him..” _

_ “Move, I have bandages…” _

Naoiki’s eyes flutter open, and he’s met with several people huddled around him. Some he knows, others he doesn’t. 

“Where am I?” He asks, looking around. 

“Unfortunately, we don’t know.” A girl with long brown hair with red ribbons states. “I received a call from the owner of a Cafe a friend of mine used to work at, warning me to barricade myself indoors. But then I was attacked by…some sort of wolf. Then…I woke here.”

A fox sniffs the area, which alarms some people in the room. 

“A fox?” Naoki blinks. “Why would it be here?”

“Yip!” It looks to the crowd, dropping some leaves. 

“Is it trying to help?” 

“Well, regardless we should try to know each other, it would probably be best if we did that much.” The girl states. “I am Hifumi Togo. And you all are?” 

“Naoki Konishi…” The blond boy states, avoiding eye contact slightly.

A short black haired girl nods. “My name is Yumi Ozawa. And…what about you?” Yumi turns to the final person in the group. A young kid. 

“…Shinya…” He mumbles a bit. “My mom got a weird call too, but she thought it was just some prank. The monsters were seen on the highway chasing some motorbike. I saw it on the news but…” 

“Yip.” The fox goes to comfort Shinya. 

“…you’re kinda nice, for a weird fox.” The King smiles a bit. 

“Do you think there’s more people trapped here?” Hifumi asks, placing a hand on her cheek. 

“If there is, then they might know more about what’s going on. Hopefully…” Yumi sighs, shaking her head. 

“The Phantom Thieves will save us.” Shinya looks serious as he speaks. “I know they will!”

“Whaat? They’re just a weird group that made a fuss for a year and then vanished, why think they’d do something about this?” Naoki shakes his head. 

“No, Shinya-kun has a point. I would know…I helped their leader out.” Hifumi giggles. “But that’s all I’ll say.” 

“Wait…you know him too?!” The elementary student looks happy. “That’s awesome!”

“Seems you both have a lot in common. But have any of you taken the time to notice something? We have rope burn on our wrists. Someone tied us up.” Naoki points out. 

“How are we free then? Unless…” Hifumi and the others look to their Fox friend. 

“Yip!”

_ Yasogami Tower Block 1 _

The team is on high guard, the faint sounds of Sho’s battle can be heard below but since his request was to do this alone the team had no choice but to respect his request. Down two people now, the feeling of unease was starting to seep in. 

“What’s the read on the Persona from before Futaba?” Makoto asks, looking to her teammate. 

“It’s still weak. I think it’s coming from another floor.” 

Minato nods. “It has to be either Jin or Takaya. We know at this point that those who died can be brought back. And if Nythotelp is relying on Persona users and those with access to Anti-Shadow weapons…then..”

“He’s getting desperate.” Ryuji states, hand in his pocket. “But what I don’t get is why hold people captive still…he should know that we’re gonna come after him no matter what at this point.”

“Perhaps he has a reason for it…” Akechi states. “Wild Cards have the power that we have because of our bonds.”

“But I can’t see how anyone would affect that, all bonds we’ve formed have changed or improved the lives of those we’ve helped. Reversing a bond would be impossible.” Yu shakes his head. 

“Maybe…he’s just after the power.” Mishima states. “Think about it: I was easily able to awaken to a Persona as was Nanako. We both had bonds.”

“I think I know where you’re going…and it’s kinda making me worry about Kou and the others…. We never did find where they were…” Yosuke sighs, shaking his head. 

_ Persona Training Center, Warped Inaba _

The banging on the doors gets rougher and rougher. The rescued links are all close together, preparing to fight.

“I don’t care if that glass was made from magic or whatever, this isn’t going to hold much longer.” Ai shakes. “We really could use back up…”

Sae sighs, nodding. “I agree, but that tower is the team’s top focus. We just have to hope they leave.”

“Yeah, at this rate that’s not gonna happen though.” Iwai states bluntly. “They’re after us. And we have to make sure they don’t do shit to any of us.”

Howling can be heard all around them. This wasn’t good…

_ Dojima Residence, Warped Inaba _

“And that takes care of that Shadow!” Marie smirks, dusting her self off as a large shadow hits the ground with a thud. “We’re doing good so far I think.”

Dojima nods. “Your..Persona right? They sure are helpful…”

“Yeah. Too bad they’re a major drain if you use them too much.” Adachi shakes his head. 

“What do you mean?” 

Marie strikes a small shadow with her bag, killing it. “Persona aren’t like a gun or any other weapon you people use. They’re like an arm or leg, using them too much leads to fatigue.”

“Seems like quite the drawback…but they’re the main thing killing the Shadows correct?” Dojima shoots a shadow as he speaks. 

“For the most part.” Adachi shrugs. 

But their short chat is soon interrupted by two mimics rising from an inky like puddle. They resemble Ken and Kanji.

“Shit! This is what that kid told me about!” Adachi quickly reloads, only to be attacked by Mimic Ken’s spear and getting badly hurt as it rams into his side with the metal end. 

“ADACHI!” Dojima runs to him as Marie attempts to fight the duo off herself. 

“Damn..these things hit harder then the others….” He’s holding his bleeding side. 

“You’re that injured? Well I can fix that…” As if on cue, rain falls despite the fog. A faint glow emits from the raindrops as it lands on the trio, almost as if it was light...

“Why does this rain feel so odd? Did you do something, Marie?” Dojima asks, holding out a hand to inspect the water falling. 

“…maybe. All that matters now is he should be fine. Now shoot these two!” 

_ Yasogami Tower, Block 1  _

The Persona team walks carefully through out the halls, dispatching small groups of shadows with ease and minimal effort. But they soon find a staircase leading to the next floor of the block. 

“Persona reading’s getting strong guys. Whoever’s waiting above…they’re gonna ambush us as soon as we climb the stairs.” Futaba looks around her. “We need to be prepared to fight hard.”

Mianto sighs, shaking his head. “Given their Artificial Persona status, they shouldn’t be hard to fight. But I don’t expect it to be as simple as before. Our enemy must be aware.” 

“Stay on guard, everyone. No matter who we see at the top of that staircase we need to push forward.” Mitsuru orders. 

_ Captive Chamber 1, Yasogami Tower Block ??? _

Hifumi sighs, carefully looking at the room she and her fellow captives find themselves in. “Let’s see…this room is serving as a cell but, it resembles a storage room of sorts.”

“So, where are you getting at?” Naoki crosses his arms. 

“What I’m getting at is that there has to be items stored here. But there’s just not enough lighting to tell. Do any of you have a lighter?” 

Shinya looks up from petting the Fox. “I don’t but my smartphone has a flashlight app, do you think that would work?”

Yumi shakes her head in annoyance. “It will work better then a stupid lighter so yeah.”

Shinya turns it on and the room becomes more illuminated, if only by a bit. 

“Yip!” The fox goes to a box and drags it to the others, who are still surprised by how smart it is. 

“A…box? But why would this be important?” Naoki questions. 

“Hmm…perhaps there’s something in it?” Hifumi opens it to reveal several strange knives. 

“Knives? Wait what’s with these engravings? ..Kirijo? Isn’t that the company that owns just about everything in Japan?”  Yumi looks worried as she goes over the knife carefully. “I don’t want to know why they’d have their names on knives like these.”

“These look like the knives he showed me…” Shinya picks one up, marveling at it. “I never got to hold one though, he said it was dangerous.”

Naoki takes it from Shinya gently. “Still are. It’s a knife after all.”

But Hifumi suddenly has an idea. “Everyone grab one, I’m going to see if the door over there is unlocked.”

They all nod as they watch the Shogi player head to the nearby door. 

Shaking on the handle, it’s loose. “Good…now I just need to see what the outside looks like.” 

The door slowly opens, cracked enough to see what’s out of the room. Shadows roam the halls, and a large one seems to be guarding a door a few rooms down. More captives? 

“I see…” Closing the door, Hifumi looks to the group. “We need to break out of here. But the area is swarming with monsters.”

“Well I can’t really fight plus on top of that we have both a grade schooler and a fox with us, we’re not really the most combat ready group.” Yumi sighs, leaning back a bit. “We need to take their safety first.” 

“I can take care of myself just fine!” Shinya objects.

Hifumi shakes her head. “Yumi has a point, Shinya-kun. We need to approach this differently. I saw someone guarding a room like ours, if my hunch is correct then we might not be the only people trapped here.”

“So what, do you expect us to bust them out?” Naoki questions, eyes narrowing. “What if it’s just some other room that needs protection?”

“That could very well be the case, but we need to take out the guards regardless. If we get spotted, we have no idea what could happen. I propose we lure the monsters into an area and corner them.” Hifumi seems determined. 

“Well…if we’re gonna do that then one of us has to act as bait right?” Shinya asks, adjusting his hat. “I see it a lot in movies and games, someone puts on a big scene and all the bad guys come to them.”

“Yip!” The Fox sounds keen on the plan. 

“Well then which one of you wants to act as bait that isn’t Shinya?” Hifumi asks. 

_ Yasogami Tower Block 1 Stairwell 1 _

The group climbs the stairs, only for Futaba’s readings to get bigger.

“Multiple Persona readings! Two…no...three! Two seem weaker then the other ones!” 

“Are they both here then?” Minato questions. “But…who would be the other Persona user then? Chidori didn’t follow you did she, Junpei?”

The Magician shakes his head repeatedly. “No, and even if she did I don’t think she’d be able to get this far into the tower. Plus wouldn’t her reading be the same as the other two?” 

Mitsuru nods. “He’s right…for once.”

“Well it’s not Sho that’s for sure. I can still see his fight with the Androids below us, Yu are you aware of any other Persona users?” 

“Not unless they’re a Velvet Room attendant, but they don’t tend to interfere with human affairs unless it’s necessary.” 

Ken lowers his head a bit. “I might have a hunch, but it’s a slim possibility…” 

_ The Halls Of The Captive Block _

Yumi steps out and whistles to the nearby shadows. 

“Hm? What are you doing out of your bindings?!”

“I’m sorry, got so lost…” She says in a innocent tone. “Could you help me find my room?”

“Lost you say?”

“Yes, but I’d feel safe if more people came with me.”

The shadow guard looks to the other ones in the room and sighs a bit. 

“Well we can’t have you escaping or killed until the arcana decks are all filled. All of you here, help me get this human to a new room.” 

All of the shadows in the area gather around and start to guide her. Right where Hifumi is waiting. 

“All exposed…now to just spring the trap.” 

She gives a thumbs up to Naoki, who uses the knife to cut some rope, catching the shadows in a net. 

“WHAT?! This was a trick! How dare you!”

Yumi laughs. “It’s called acting, you stupid freak. Learn it.”

Shinya and the Fox come out of hiding. “Wow…just like the movies.”

“Shouldn’t we like…kill them?” Naoki suggests. “If they get free they’ll just catch us again.”

Hifumi nods. “A good queen makes sure her people are safe.” She takes out the knife she grabbed and stabs the shadows through the net as they vanish into mist one by one. 

“We need to go open that door next right?” Shinya asks, already halfway to it. 

They open the door, to find more people tied up. An older man, along with people close or around Hifumi's age. All are unconscious.

“We have knives so we won’t need to ask Mr. Fox here to bite through it like he did with us.” Yumi points out. 

“How are you sure it’s a boy?” Hifumi asks. 

“I’m…not?”

“Well let’s just free these guys and wake them up. More help we get the better…” Naoki gets to work undoing the bindings. 

_ Yasogami Tower, Block 1 Floor 2 _

The group starts to follow the signal, as the Persona users seemed to have moved as they were tracked. 

“The fighting seems to two v one! I still can’t say what Arcana though.” Futaba states. 

“Are we too far away to track that?” Yu asks. “Knowing their alignment might help…”

“Wait I’m getting one Arcana reading! But it keeps going in and out of range!”

Akihiko looks to her. “What’s the reading then?” 

“Hierophant.”

_ Captive Room #2 _

Freeing the captives seemed to be harder then they first thought, as their bindings were done a lot more tightly. But it still gave way with enough effort from the group.

“And that’s the last of the ropes…” Hifumi sighs, putting away her knife. “But these people…why capture them?” 

The freed people start to slowly come too, Shinya shining his light to better see who they freed. 

“Damn..just when I thought I secured it enough…” The older man mutters to himself.

Hifumi blinks. “You! You were the one who called me over the phone, Sakura correct?” 

Sojiro nods. “Yeah. I had been warned that those…things were targeting people so I tried to warn whoever was left.”

“Targeting? Is that why Kaizushi called me?” One of the others states. “He sounded a bit panicked..and then the call was cut short…” 

Sojiro suddenly looks worried. “Was a Nijima mentioned during the call?”

The brown haired young man shakes his head. “Not directly, but I heard an older guy’s voice telling her to get down. Why?”

“Damnit! They might have gotten captured like us…” Sojiro sighs. 

“The Phantom Thieves are gonna save us! Don’t worry!” Shinya insists. 

Hearing that, Sojiro nods. “I hate to depend on them again, but if we’re where I think we are…they might be somewhere else in this place.”

“Well, where would they be exactly?” A young teen girl asks, hair in buns. 

“That’s…unclear.” Hifumi sighs. “This place is built like a skyscraper, they could be lower…or higher than us…”

“Yip!” The fox is sniffing something in the room, before dragging it for everyone to see. 

“A piece of cloth?” Naoki looks at it. “Why’d that be important?” 

The brown haired young man takes a look at it, nodding a bit. “I bet it might have come off our kidnapper. He wore a hood to hide himself and he’s now laying in wait to-”

“If he’s like the wolves we saw on TV, he has to be just as supernatural right?” Hifumi asks. “Can you all move?” 

Sojiro and the other two stand, but the one remaining is looking at the cloth still. A  high schooler with rectangular glasses. 

“It looks worn out…” He states, standing finally. “And kind of old…”

“Well regardless of how old it is, we should try to find a way out of here. You kids all have knives right?” Sojiro asks, starting to slowly take charge. 

They nod.

“Well that’s good, but I don’t want any of you to just go out and fight. Be smart. If we can find a safe spot for them to find us we’ll be safe…I hope.” 

“Well this floor is currently safe, should we stay here?” Yumi suggests. 

“Yip!” 

“Seems like this guy agrees.” Sojiro laughs. 

_ Block 1, Floor 2 _

“We need to hurry!” Akhiko is suddenly more fired up then before. “We need to assist as soon as possible.” 

“But if we rush in, it might be risky.” Ren states, shaking his head. “You Shadow Ops and Investigation Team guys have no sense of stealth and frankly, more conflicts could have been avoided in the past if you just followed our lead more closely.”

Labrys’ eyes close in on Ren as he speaks. “So what are you tryn’ to say, kid?”

“You need a proper entrance. To not only impress your foe, but to catch them of guard! Being flashy is rule number one about being a Phantom Thief after all!”

Chie looks hyped. “So you guys do that whole thing like in the movies and stuff?”

“Well yeah? We don’t just call ourselves Phantom Thieves for nothing.” Ryuji laughs. 

“Just follow our lead and you’ll be golden.” Ren advises, adjusting his blood red gloves with a wide grin. 

Yu looks to Yosuke. “Do you ever get a feeling of Deja Vu? Because I swear something like this happened to us before.”

“Yeah…” Yosuke nods, glancing over to Ren as he starts going over his plan.

Phantom Thief flashiness was going to be their best bet at catching their foe off guard…or will it? 

The group gets into position. Ren smirks, giving hand cues to his teammates. They then climb the tops walls separating the portions of the floor, running along them. While the thieves have an easy time doing this due to experience, Mishima along with the other two groups are struggling a bit. 

Ren, Yu and Minato stick the landing right behind Jin and Takaya.

“That’s far enough.” Ren states, Joker voice in full force. 

The duo look behind them. 

“Reinforcements? But it seems Minato is with them.” Jin smirks. “This makes things easier. His elimination is key after all.” 

Takaya nods. “We’ll deal with  _ him _ later.”

Yu draws his sword, staring them down. “Stand down, I’d rather not waste time fighting someone that could help us.”

“Save your breath. They’re not going to listen.” The Hierophant user states. “Fight or run. That’s our current options.”

The others land behind them, striking poses only to see Ren and the other two are serious so they follow suit. 

“So…I was right..” Akihiko looks up at the user. “It is you..Shinji.” 

_ Holding Block _

The captive group looks around the empty floor. No Shadows in sight, but an exit is also unseen. Past the hallway is a winding room much like every floor in the Tower. 

“I can’t make heads or tails of any of this…” Sojiro sighs, putting a hand on his forehead. “It’s a maze, but also a normal as heck building?” 

Hifumi nods. “It is strange, but if we can make progress perhaps it could lead us to an exit. Or the Phantom Thieves.” 

“Well if this was like a video game, there’d  be a helpful NPC to guide us through the place.” Shinya suggests. “But this isn’t a game so…” 

Naoki shakes his head. “It’s weird enough we have a Fox with us. I’d rather not have some random person come to help us.”

Yumi looks at everyone. “Well, we should probably have whoever hasn’t introduced themselves do so. If we knew each other's names it might help us feel a bit safer, right?” 

Sojiro nods. “Good idea.”

The brown haired young man nods. “Well I’m Kenji Tomochika.”

The teen girl looks to everyone. “I’m Maiko Oohashi, nice to meet you all.”

They then look to the teen in glasses. “ I’m Shu Nakajima.”

Sojiro smiles at their willingness. “Well now that this is settled, we should try to figure out more of this place..” 

The Fox runs ahead, only to growl before running to hide behind Hifumi. 

“Hm? What’s wrong little guy?” Naoki looks down at the creature. “Seems like he saw something he didn’t like…”

“Animals tend to have a good sense of character…” Hifumi states, petting the fox. “Perhaps he saw not something but some _ one _ .”

“The only way to know is to look, right?” Kenji states. “So…who’s going to do it?” 

_ Persona Training Center _

_ “The glass is giving way!” _

_ “We can’t hold on much longer!” _

_ “Karou get to safety! I’ll take care of things from here!” _

They’re in a corner, now having gotten rid of the training weapons for real ones stored in the armory. 

Ai looks to Kou and Daisuke, who are both protecting her on either side. “You guys…are we going to make it through this time?”

“Don’t start giving up now, Ai.” Daisuke states. “We need to fight them off no matter what.”

The howls of the shadows get louder as their claws tear through the glass as if it was paper in a shredder. They start dogpiling in…

“Damnit!” Kaizushi grabs a bow staff. “They broke through!”

Sae’s expression is focused on the hoard as it makes its way into their territory. “We need to kill them as fast as possible!” 

Sae opens fire with her pistol as the rest follow suit. But Ai is panicking. Unlike before when they were just saving one person, this was a matter of self preservation as well. She is fearful…and the shadows knew it well. 

“Ai! Behind you!” Iwai shouts.

A shadow leaps and lunges at her, aiming to get her by the neck. She tries to protect herself from it…

Only to not be hit.

_ Persona User Conflict _

“How annoying. We have two more groups to deal with now.” Jin shakes his head. “No matter, if we can get rid of all of you now it would make things run that much easier, correct Takeya?”

His ally nods. “Yes. Once that is done, Humanity will be able to finally embrace the Fall with no hindrances.”

“To hell with that!” Kanji yells. “Don’t you two realize that shits gonna kill people?!”

Takeya looks at him, and draws his revolver. “Well maybe I’ll use you as an example. One less card in the deck never hurts…”

Ren makes his gun audibly click. “You work for Deathbringer currently correct? Then you must be after Wild Cards. I’m what you want.”

Jin looks to the thief. “So you’re requesting we kill you then?”

“Don’t be an idiot Joker!” Akechi yells. 

“That’s precisely it.”

The Revolver wielding cult leader nods, pointing his gun at Ren.  “Then with this…one wild card falls.” 

He fires, and the world moves in slow motion. Everyone watches in horror, some trying to attack back only to be held off by Jin. 

And then… 

The bullet hits a target…but not who was intended. 

Ann gasps loudly. 

**_“RYUJI!”_ **

Ryuji falls to the ground, holding his abdomen. “D-Damnit! That was a real ‘effing gun!” 

“You stupid monkey!” Morgana shakes his head, moving to heal him, Ann assists. 

“Seems that wasn’t enough. Oh well…” Takeya refocuses his efforts on Shinji. 

“I’m not letting this happen again!” Akhiko charges at the shirtless gunman, decking him in the face which catches him off guard. 

Ken takes the opportunity to trip him with his staff. “Now’s our chance….”

“You’re wide open!  **_MOROS_ ** !”

_ Yasogami Tower Lobby _

A number of destroyed machines litter the once clean marble flooring. Out of breath and close to dropping, Sho looks around. “Is that…all you got?! No more toys to break?!” 

But no response is given. 

“Where did he….?” The red haired Wild Card looks to the stairs to see no one there. It seems during his fight, his adoptive father used the chance to flee. 

“COWARD!” Sho starts to run up the stairs, but staggers a bit as he does so. “I’m not gonna let this beat me…I’m not done questioning you…you son of a bitch…”

_ Persona Training Center _

Looking up, Ai sees Kou shielding her from the Shadow wolf. It’s biting down hard on the sword he grabbed, but a claw managed to get him bad in the still bare chest. 

“Kou…” Ai shakes her head. This wasn’t the time. Quickly moving to grab a spare air soft gun she shoots the shadow dead. 

“Nice work…are you okay?” The basketball player asks, looking her over for injuries. 

“I should be the one asking you that! Your chest is bleeding!”

Kou looks down, seemingly just now noticing it due to moving on only adrenaline until this point. “Damnit…so I am.”

“Hey, you lovebirds can chat later! We still have more shadows to deal with!” Iwai shouts, shooting a few. 

“R-Right!” 

The group fends off the remaining shadows until none remain. With a collective sigh they all relax. 

“We did it…” Daisuke slumps down into a chair, exhausted. 

“Well now we just need to treat Kou’s injury.” Sae states, looking at the basketball player. 

“But the town’s on lockdown.” Ai states. “How can we?”

“I have a way. Sadly my phone is dead. Iwai do you mind making a call?”

_ Tokyo _

“Monsters roaming the streets, children going missing, and now I get a weird call from that Cafe owner.” Tae mumbles, looking over her papers. “Several people have come in with all sorts of injuries. Not life threatening…but ones that no one else would believe came from ‘Monsters’. Am I the only one who remembers what happened on Christmas Eve? Or was that just a dream?” 

She shakes her head, when her phone rings. “Again?” Answering she hears comotion on the other line.

_ “Nijima better have given me the right number. Is this Takemi?” _

“Yes, you have the right number. May I ask who’s calling?”

_ “Look I’m just gonna skip the formalities. I’m not calling for a house call, we have an injured kid here and I need advice as soon as possible.” _

“Pushy much? What’s the issue?” Takemi asks, taking out a notepad. 

_ “We’re in Inaba. Place has become the equivalent to hell right now and we were attacked by those freaks.” _

Tae gasps, hearing how far the sightings have spread. “It’s reached Inaba? I’ve had to treat several people today for ‘Monster attacks’.”

_ “More like they’re  _ **_coming_ ** _ from Inaba. This place is a damn hornets nest. Kid has major scratches on his chest. Claw marks.” _

“How deep are the cuts? And how close to the heart?”

_ “Seems to have missed the heart, but the claws went in a bit deep.” _

“I see…are there any first aid kits where you are sir?”

_ “Yeah, pretty damn heavy duty. Ren must have over prepared..” _

Tae pauses, hearing Ren mentioned. “Ren you say…. Frizzy hair, not afraid to back talk? Lives in Inaba?”

_ “We both know him? Makes things a bit easier. But why do you ask?” _

“Open the first aide kit, and look for a leather pouch.”

_ “Uh..okay. I found it, but what’s in it?”  _

“Medicine he bought from me. According to him it helped a lot with his  _ work _ .”

Iwai is quiet on the line for a second.  _ “I’ll use it on the injury then.” _

“Keep me on the line, alright? I want to make sure nothing else affected this young man.”

_ Captive Block _

Making their way down carefully, the freed captives start to slowly search for an exit to the floor they were on. The Fox however, seems tense. 

“We still haven’t figured out what this little guy saw.” Kenji states. “If Hifumi-chan’s statement was right then there has to be another person here right?” 

“It was only a hunch.” She clarifies. “Basing a claim on unproven evidence or one sided opinions makes you no better than Goro Akechi.”

“Speaking of that guy, do any of you know what happened to him? He just vanished after that last TV show he was on.” Yumi asks the group. 

Sojiro is quiet, not wanting to answer but also hiding his knowledge by tuning out the topic.

“Well I never really liked him.” Naoki admits. “He seemed really happy to be on TV so often. Nothing like the other one…” 

“He’s dumb. The Phantom Thieves are good guys and he did nothing but bad mouth them.” Shinya states, crossing his arms. 

The fox suddenly growls, stopping in place. The group looks forward to see a scarfed figure approaching them. 

“Who’s there?!” Hifumi demands. 

_ Block 1, Floor 2 _

Ken and Akihiko are sent back a bit by Jin’s attacks. This allows Takaya to stand back up.

“Don’t let your anger get the best of you!” Minato yells. “This is a mistake I’m supposed to make, not you two.” 

Ryuji stands up, now healed from Ann and Morgana’s magic. “Yo, need back up?” 

Akihiko and Ken look to each other and then shrug before looking to Ryuji and nodding. Yosuke and Yu run in to assist as well. 

“So you’re going to try to overwhelm us by sheer numbers? Very well, the outcome will still be in our favor.” Jin states, taking out a grenade. 

_ Shinjinku _

A hand moves over a tarot deck in a street devoid of people. Chihaya the fortune teller is looking over the fortune of Inaba and the people currently in it.

“The cards show…fear? Pain…and death.” She shakes her head, looking closely at the cards. “Something terrible will happen there…and if this is where he is from surely he’s in the midst. I must know!” 

She quickly does Ren’s fortune, but the results begin to worry her more “He’s afraid? He who changed fate? Slew that god? Or was it only a dream?” 

“If you’re talking about that huge as hell demon that shot that god thing, then I don’t think it was a dream.” A voice calls to her. 

Chihya gasps, looking up at the speaker. “You are…”

“Ohya. I found out about you through some digging on Ren’s friends. To think he’d work with a fortune teller though…” The reporter takes a seat at the table, placing her arms on it. “You did his fortune just now?”

She nods. “It seems wherever he currently is, he is facing hardship. And it doesn’t seem to be getting easier.”

“Well given he’s from Inaba that means there’s currently some major crap going down there.” Ohya leans back a bit, legs crossed. “I lost all communication with my contacts in that area…and Ren himself won’t answer my calls.”

“The cards stated that an evil force had influenced the area…but I do not know how this correlates to the monster sightings lately…” 

They both look around, as if to check for any shadows nearby before resuming their conversation. 

“Monsters…I’d say you were crazy had that whole Demon shooting a God thing not happened.” Ohya takes out her notepad, which has a bunch of notes she jotted down during the event. “Other people didn’t remember, yet we did. Persona, treasure, shadows…I heard all of that mentioned in that time frame. Yet none of the general public does. What makes us different from them?”

The teller does the fortune, and stairs hard. “The Chariot…” She mutters. 

“Uh, hello? Did you catch what I said?” The reporter waves her hand in front of her face.

“The fool’s fortune comes up differently a total of three times…there are more of them…”

Ohya blinks, and then nods. “If that’s the case…then there’s more groups like them right? What’ll happen?”

“Danger…separation…and struggle. In fact, I believe it has already begun.”

_ Block 1, Floor 2 _

Jin and Takyea are having a hard time keeping up with their opponents. While it was true that those who stepped forward were fighting them, no one said anything about the others buffing them and taking attacks. 

“Damn them! Their cooperation is infuriating!” Jin hisses. 

“Jin, we will eradicate them. It is the only way.” The cult leader responds. 

“Partner! Let’s do this!” Yosuke smirks, to which Yu nods. They both charge at opposite directions seemingly going for a pincer. 

The Strega duo prepares to counter it only for…

“RAVAGE THEM!” 

Arsene attacks them, leaving them both wide open for not only Yu and Yosuke’s attack but Akihiko’s as well. 

Minato smirks. “Nice team work.  ALL OUT ATTACK!”

“Been a while…” Shinjiro nods as he charges in with the others. 

“DON’T FORGET ME!” Sho dashes in, joining in the AOA as well. 

Smoke clears, revealing both Persona users to be unconscious. Ryuji laughs, taking some rope as he ties them both up. 

“Serves them both right? Now we can just keep going!” But as he keep laughing, his side hurt. While he was indeed healed, he still had a bullet in him. Not that he was going to show he was in pain. 

“Well since I’m here, guess I’ll help out while I can.” Shinji states casually.

“Wait why do you mean…’While you can’?” Ken asks, tilting his head a bit. 

“I was brought back, with the express reason of being used. Those two told me as much.” He gestures to the Strega members. “But since we’re going after the guy who brought me and them both back, as soon as he leaves so will we.”

Junpei looks over to Minato before looking back at Shinjiro. “So…even Minato will return? He was brought back too…” 

“This is what I told you guys before.” The blue haired fool sighs. “If I do end up returning after this…then..”

“Don’t…Minato.” Yukari puts a hand on his shoulder. “We know…” 

“Well let’s not waste any more time. There’s hostages.” Ren states.

“Okay…you guys are gonna have to explain why this group is dressed like that as we go.” Shinji states as the group heads on, looking for a way up.

_ Captive Block _

The scarfed figure approaches the group, appearing in full thanks to the lighting. It’s a young man, no older then seventeen. He smiles, granting a friendly wave. He didn’t look like the shadows from before. 

“Oh good, you’re okay.” He states. 

Hifumi eyes him closely, looking at the Fox who still seems wary of him. “Yes…we are.” She states cautiously. “Might I ask who you are?”

“Oh, my apologies. My name is Ryoji. I’m with the group trying to rescue all the captured civilians.”

Sojiro is also wary of him. Something just felt…off about this kid. And it gave off eerie vibes that matched that of a certain detective prince. “Well then how come you’re alone…and unarmed?” 

The Fox’s growls become louder as it gets closer to Ryoji. It really doesn’t seem to like him. But the scarfed boy just shakes his head. 

“What’s currently going on…is dangerous. Please follow me…” 

With no other choice, the group walks with Ryoji. Hifumi and Sojiro exchange looks with one another. They needed to make some sort of commotion…some way of getting the attention of the Persona users. This felt too easy to already be seemingly rescued.

_ Shinjinku _

“Wheel of Fortune…why is it leading a strange set of arcana? And the end goal…” Chihaya shakes her head. “This could prove to be bad..” 

Ohya looks at the cards, and focuses. “I don’t know what these cards mean…can you explain?”

“The line up of these cards suggests that..whoever the Wheel of Fortune is…he’s leading a group of innocents to their eventual doom.”

The reporter shakes her head. “I don’t typically buy into this crap, but with everything going on right now I have nothing else to trust. Can it be stopped?”

“Yes. If there’s anything  _ he _ has taught me, it’s that fate is not absolute.”

She flips over the fortune of one fool..seeing that it ends in Death. “Even when death looms it’s way down…fate does not always steer it’s intended course…”


	9. Determination

Footsteps of the user group echo through the mostly empty halls. Metallic clangs of Agis and Labrys’ feet mix in with the steps of the humans. The air had grown unnervingly tense since their take down of the Strega duo. Garbled muttering from shadows seemed to be much too far off to be a threat.

But Ren is unfocused, as if a sound was constantly playing in his head. Shrugging it off upon realizing no one else was reacting, he chalks it up to stress. A faint humm sounds not to far away.

“Yo, are those the trip lasers from Madarame’s?” Ryuji points out, causing the others to stop in their tracks.

“This is familiar, yes.” Yusuke nods, looking closely at the device.”But why would this be here?”

“Well regardless, it’s blocking our way to the stairs.” Minato points out. “But we can’t see where the triggers are so we’ll be going in this blindly.”

“Not really, I can see them.” Ren smirks. “It’s…one of my own personal perks. Third Eye and all.”

“What? So some of you wild cards have special skills that only you can do? Okay that’s so unfair…” Yosuke shake his head before refocusing. “Well regardless, we’ll need to follow your lead.”

Ren concentrates and nods. “Crawl, but keep as low to the ground as you can.”

With that he and the Thieves go through easy. But the others are a bit wary. Koromaru goes in, crawling as low as a shiba could. But Labrys realizes she can’t crawl and have her axe with her at the same time.

“Well great…how am I gonna get by? My axe is too big.” She shakes her head.

“Just watch and learn.” Sho laughs, crawling with no trouble.

Pretty soon everyone figures out a way, more or less… until only Yosuke remains.

“Okay, if Teddie could get by I should have this easy!” He starts to go, only for Ren to hold up a hand.

“You’re close to triggering it Hanamura be careful and don-” But he suddenly pauses again. The sound in his head becomes just a bit louder…and it sounds like a church bell sounding off in a ominous manner.

Yosuke looks worried by his sudden pause. “D-Did I set it off?!”

The Phantom shakes his head. “N-No…it’s just…my head…”

Yosuke gets low and makes it across, going over to check him. “You don’t look so hot man…”

Akechi holds his head slightly, seemingly trying to keep his own pain hidden to save face. “Do any of you…hear that ringing at all?”

The group shakes their heads…except for Ren.

“Just the two of us then…”

Making it through the lasers, the group soon finds themselves at a stairwell…with footsteps heard above. A whole group.

But the ringing…Ren and Akechi can’t stop hearing it. And it’s now started to be heard by Yu and Minato as well.

Sho being the only one out of the five to not be affected, looks at them with confusion. “You guys aren’t all wimping out right now are you?”

“Guys…stay on guard.” Yosuke states, drawing his kunai. “Our foe might be trying to pull something again…”

_The Maze of the Holding Block_

Ryoji calmly leads the captives through the maze, but as they walk his posture depicts reluctance and frustration. He’s got something on his mind, but doesn’t wish to speak it aloud.

This doesn’t go unnoticed by Sojiro however. Despite still being wary of the young man, he felt he had to ask. So with a quiet nod, he decides to. “Say, everything alright kid? You’ve been a bit quiet for about twenty minutes now.”

“Me?” Ryoji asks, seemingly snapping out of his thoughts. “Yeah I’m fine, don’t worry. Just trying to stay on guard in case a shadow attacks us.”

“But they haven’t, not since you’ve been guiding us.” Hifumi points out, arms crossed.

Ryoji is silent once again, which only creates more questions about him for the group as a whole.

The Fox sniffs Ryoji, growling slightly.

“Not a very friendly Fox are you?” Ryoji states in a slightly glum yet hushed tone. “Believe me, I get why..”

_Stairwell To Next Block_

“Can you all describe what’s going on?!” Mitsuru asks, worry pouring into her voice like water.

“It’s like…bells.” Yu states, trying his best to focus on the conversion despite the sound’s increasing volume in his and the other’s heads.

“It has the same feeling as….in the Castle.” Minato winces. “But is he trying to take control…or just madden us?”

“B-Both..I’d wager.” Akechi adds. “When you two stabbed us…it must have…passed on something to-”

But his statement is cut short by Ren drawing his pistol on him. The air is suddenly cold, as it seems Ren succumbed to it first.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, the fortune teller checks Ren’s fate again and gasps.

“The Chariot…he will take a risk…and it may prove bad..”

“Didn’t you mention him before? He’s connected to Ren right? What’ll happen?” Ohya looks worried.

“He will take another shot…fired by his own friend.”

Joker smirks, reading his gun. Ryuji moves to push Akechi out of the way. He wouldn’t do this normally, not to a person who’d killed so many. But he just felt he had to…no he must. His death means the real villain wins…

“Revenge is sweet.” The controlled Ren laughs.

A gasp is heard from the teller. “The cards feel wrong suddenly!”

She re does the fortune. “It still feels off. Fool is here yes…but it feels like…there should be more…”

“Then he has like minded people among him.” An older man’s voice states, walking up to the do.

“You’re Yoshida! But what is a politician doing out here?” Ohya asks, confused.

“Checking up on the people who are still out..” He nods. “Ren aided me as well. So I figured I’d help once more…by placing my trust that he will make it through this.”

Yu and Minato try their hardest to fend off the frenzied Ren, blocking gunshots and knife swipes.

“They’re fighting him and the control?! That’s gonna put a lot of strain on them!” Rise points out. “At that rate…they won’t be able to use their Persona.”

Sho nods, parrying attacks as Akechi too subcomes to the control. “I think that’s the point. They’re gonna brute force it.”

“It’s all they can do really..” Yosuke shakes his head. “Weaken Ren and Akechi! Toss as many debuffs as you can! Slow their impact.”

The training center feels heavy with the same air. Sae looks around. “I have a bad feeling suddenly…” She looks out a window to notice a faint glow from the tower. “That can’t be good…”

“Snap out of it Ren!” Yu yells, trying to parry his strikes. “You know what’s going on!”

The fortune shifts again.

“The fool…will be hurt.”

“PARTNER!” Yosuke pushes Yu out of the way, taking the hit himself.

“Yosuke! NGH! …no…you won’t win… **_I refuse_ **!” Yu shakes off the pain in his head and goes to attack Ren.

Yosuke holds his stomach. “Keep the debuffs going! It’s working!”

Sho and Akechi exchange strikes. “For a bird brain with a toy sword you sure have some skill, I’ll give you that. But I still call myself the better between us.”

“Don’t buff the wild cards.” Mitsuru states, drawing her evoker. “Should they fall under control it won’t be good.”

Minato nods. “Mitsuru, now would be a good time to try Mari Karin. It might shake off the control.”

Ohya and Yoshida observe as the fortune is checked again very carefully.

“The outcome keeps switching between positive and negative.”

“Yo! If they’re moving too much to get it off, I can try paralyzing them!” Ryuji suggests.

“Are you sure? You’d be attacking Ren…” Futaba states, worried.

“I know…but if it saves him in the end then I can deal with the guilt later.”

Kanji steps up and places a hand on Ryuji’s shoulder. “Let me help then. We only have a slight chance of doing it right?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it.”

They stand shoulder to shoulder.

“ **Seiten Taisei**!”

“ **Takeji Zaiten!”**

Twin zio spells strike Ren and Akechi, the crackles of thunder sound off and are heard in the next room along with the respective screams of pain from the targets.

Sojiro freezes, acknowledging one of those screams as Ren’s. He looks right at Ryoji with a serious look on his face. “That was their leader. You’re leading us away from them aren’t you, Ryoji?”

Kenji suddenly realizes something and turns serious himself. “Ryoji…you were a transfer student! Why the hell are you suddenly back anyway? People said you vanished right after Minato…”

“Vanished…” Hifumi mutters, drawing her knife. “Give us answers! Now!”

“L-Like I said before I’m just trying to get you all to safety!” Ryoji tries to defend himself, holding up his hands.

“..Liar.” Shinya draws a model gun, which shocks everyone. “If you were really working with the Phantom Thieves, you’d be more nice. And smart.”

“W-Where the hell did you get that Shinya?!” Kenji asks, a bit panicked.

“Phantom Thieves…huh?” Ryoji looks down, nodding a bit. “What do they do?”

“They protect people, and rebel against what others want. Changing fate if you will.” Hifumi states, not lowering her knife.

“Change fate…? Can anyone do that?” He’s starting to wonder this about himself.

Back with the fight below, Ren and Akechi can’t move. Ryuji and Kanji look to Mitsuru and nod.

“It’s all yours!” Skull states.

“MARIN KARIN!” She summons her persona and the spell is cast…affecting Ren, and then Akechi.

Yosuke, still holding his stomach from Ren’s knife strike looks at the duo. They seem to be in a state of fighting it off…but the brain wash from their side seems to be helping. With a solid nod, Yosuke looks to the group.

“We need to try to render them unconscious should this not work. Akihiko!”

“I can try to land some solid hits in, yeah.”

Shinji shakes his head. “Take _one_ of them, idiot. They might be brainwashed but they sure as hell are observing what’s happening to the other.”

“What, so you’re insisting you knock out the other?” Akihiko smirks.

“It’s the only way. I don’t expect kicks over here to get a blow in that easily.” He gestures to Chie.  

Yosuke shrugs. “If that’s what you’re gonna go with, then fine just don’t”

“LOKI!”

“Shit! It wore off!” Ryuji gets into a fighting stance.

“Yo, if you two are gonna knock ‘em out..now’s the time!” Kanji shouts.

Shinji and Akihiko nod at each other, both moving to fight Ren and Akechi.

Sho looks frustrated. “I could easily knock them out, I don’t get why you didn’t ask me to-” But Labrys elbows him before he can finish.

The fighting can still be heard from above, yet Ryoji is still in deep thought. He finally nods. “The lower floor is this way.”

“Can we actually trust you?” Hifumi states, not wavering at all in her stance.

“For now at least. But if I say run…do it. The shadows won’t like what I’m doing.”

He starts leading them to the battle, unaware that it’s infighting. Everyone seems tense as the combat is heard more closely.

“Shadows are what you call the monsters right?” Naoki asks. “Why that name?”

“It’s just the name they’ve always had.”

One final thud is heard from below, it seems the duo were able to knock out Ren and Akechi successfully. Yu and Minato seem to be back to normal as well, albeit a bit drained.

“We…did it..” Yu smiles tiredly, looking to Minato who returns it.

Ryoji points the group to the stairs. “This is..where we part ways.”

Kenji looks confused, looking right at the embodiment of Death. “What do you mean?”

But Ryoji offers no reply, simply walking off as shadows start to trail him slowly.

Sojiro shakes his head, calmly motioning the group down the steps. Finally they were safe…if this kid was telling the truth then…

But as Akechi and Ren wake up, their eyes meet with that of the captives. Kenji notices Minato right off the bat, and like Kazushi before him is equally as shocked. Naoiki and Yumi are confused to see so many former classmates while Hifumi, Sojiro and Shinya seem at least somewhat calm. Celebs were in the group as well, which didn’t help their shock one bit.

But for the two teens in the group? The one’s that knew Yu and Minato when they were younger? Their shock was even greater.

Questions had to be answered and fast.

“Okay what the hell is going on?!” Kenji states, holding his head in confusion.

The Persona group offers a long sigh as they all take a short rest within an abandoned room in the tower. Now in better light, the tower captives can start to get a better understanding of the situation.

“Well…you see. We’re all Persona users. Think of it as…the opposite of the shadows that took you.” Yosuke explains, arms folded.

“Opposite? In what way do you mean?” Hifumi questions.

“Shadows and Persona both stem from the sea of souls, but while Shadows are wild and sometimes unpredictable..Persona are their tamed and much more realized states. We work alongside them.” Yusuke chimes in, his suit’s tail moving slightly as he speaks.

“That voice…Kitaguwa-kun correct? You were learning under Madarame for a while. My deepest condolences for what you went through…”

A small smile forms on the artist’s face. “I appreciate the thought.”

Shinya however is looking over the thieves, counting them. “There’s one extra! Did you guys get a new member or something?”

Mishima offers an awkward laugh. “I guess he means me. Yeah, I recently joined during this crisis.”

“…so you’re a noob. _LAME_.”

And Mishima lowers his head a bit. Even as a Phantom Thief he still doesn’t get respect.

“So…Minato and Shinjiro are…both here?” Kenji walks up to both of them, confused. “You guys aren’t like…undead or anything right?”

“No, we’re as in the flesh as it gets.” Mitnato smiles, but he’s suddenly hugged.

“Minato’s here! This is the best summer ever! After I heard you passed…I got really sad…but now you’re here!” Maiko smiles.

“Someone’s gotten taller. Geez, you’re almost taller then me.” The blue haired fool laughs. It still hurts him that there’s a slight chance he’ll be gone after this crisis…but telling Maiko and Kenji might make it hurt worse.

“Not like it’s much of an effort to be taller then you, though.” Yukari jokes.

Sojiro sighs, shaking his head. “Well if all the goofing around is done, I’d like to know just what the hell is going on and how we can get to safer grounds.”

Ren nods. “He’s right. We’ll fill you all in, then.”

They all gather around a table, Futaba using her Persona’s power to pull up a map of Warped Inaba.

“Okay! So shadows are currently over run, but they’re targeting individual people. People with connections to our leaders here.”

She pulls up an image of Tarrot cards. “Each of you, according to them is holding within you…potential. Power of some sorts.”

“Wait hold on…what do you mean…power?” Naioki asks.

“Well everyone within this room has an Arcana connected to you. How this is chosen is unknown to us but it’s through us bonding with you all…that we were able to accomplish our Journeys.” Yu explains.

“Like how Re…Joker here managed to defeat that god of control or whatever?” Sojiro asks.

“Precisely! Boss sure catches on quick.” Morgana laughs, Sojiro is shocked to finally hear the feline speak.

“So if we have this potential then why does the enemy want it? It seems to me only your leaders can tap into this..” Hifumi crosses her arms and legs.

“We think it might have another thing to it that we are unaware of. Bonds are what keep us at our full potential…if they’re severed…” Minato lowers his head.

“Then it’d be like a new save file…” Shinya states.

“The main threat wants us captured and to ruin our one connection that’s helping you all out? Sounds convoluted if he’s going to these lengths..”

“Except…he’s not just doing that. He wants us Wild Cards dead.” Sho explains. “We in general hold too much potential…and Minato himself is a living barrier to the worst of the worst coming true.”

“This…is extremely serious. You kids shouldn’t be wasting time on us, you have a tower to climb.” Sojiro states firmly.

“Y-Yeah we know! But we gotta get you to the safe zone first.” Ryuji replies.

“There’s a safe zone?” Kenji asks. “Where? From the look on techno girls map…this whole country town went to hell.”

A glowing dot appears on the map. “There! South of the tower. It’ll look like a gym. You can’t miss it.” Futaba giggles.

“Queen, you have the fastest transport.” Joker orders. “Escort them to the gym and come back here afterwards. We’ll do some data gathering while you’re gone.”

“Got it! Everyone, please follow me.” With that, Queen leads them out. But before they all leave…Maiko hugs Minato one more time.

“After you stop this…I want to catch up…okay?”

She then rushes out.

Minato watches her go…with a heartbroken look on his face. He can’t tell her…he doesn’t want to upset anyone anymore.

But no one said he couldn’t upset himself.

With Makoto guiding the captives to the gym, this left the rest of the group with time to go over current happenings. Futaba, who still has her map up speaks up.

“Alright, so right now I’m tracking all signs pointing at Arcana with no distinction between Persona and non.” A bunch of blips pop up, with the biggest cluster being themselves.

“There’s four arcana in Nanako’s house.” Yu points out. “Hirophant, which is my uncle, Hunger…which is Adachi and Justice, which is Nanako herself.”

“But the last one is Aeon correct? We’ve yet to encounter an Aeon persona..” Aigis states before gasping. “Marie-chan!”

Yu nods. “She’s probably assisting them, which is good. More back up they have the better.”

Futaba then points to the moving cluster. “That’s Sojiro’s group that Queen’s leading.”

“And by process of elimination, the still cluster is our friends we rescu-hold on…” Yosuke counts the number of blips. “There’s an extra there.”

“An extra?” Rise asks, counting the blips herself. “Yeah seems so.”

“Tch, it’s probably that Niijima lady that helped me get here. She was insisting on helping the townsfolk at any cost.” Sho crosses his arms.

“Sae-san is here?” Akechi asks, going a bit quiet. “I see…”

“If she demands an interrogation on you we’re not protecting your sorry ass, _got that_?” Ryuji glares.

Mitsuru suddenly nods. “That reminds me, all this data we’ve collected on these happenings…after we end this crisis can you provide us with the full list Futaba?”

“Uh huh! But why?”

“I’ll tell you when it’s closer to time.”

“Awww! No fair!” The hacker pouts.

Minato clears his throat. “Can we get back on topic please?”

Futaba pulls up a map of the tower, a 3D projection. “Okay! So the spots colored in yellow are places we’ve hit. The red parts are places we’ve yet to visit.”

Ken counts the sections. “Seventeen in total it seems. We still have a long road ahead of us, even if it’s not nearly as many floors as what we’re used to.”

“Hold on there Ken. These are _sections_ as in blocks. We don’t know how many floors are within each.” Fuuka explains.

“Great, so they can be as short as the two floor run we just did…or as long as Marie’s…” Yosuke sighs.

Sho places his hands down on the table hard. “We gotta find a faster way of getting up this damn thing then!”

“I’m with Sho, at the rate we’re going we may not be able to stop the spread from infecting all of Japan.. Again it’s reached Tokyo so it’s only a matter of time….” Yu looks down.

“Then stop panicking and let’s think about this rationally. From everything we have learned about Deathbringer and Nythotep, they were able to raise fallen persona users or Arcana holders, enter minds, and use cognition against us. On top of that, they have access to a Reaper Nest.” Akechi states.

“Then…our best bet would be to abuse cognition to grant us an advantage, correct?” Naoto asks to which Akechi nods in response.

“I see…by doing that we can use just about every power they have against us. If they get in our head…it’s our head, if they try to oppose us with threats…be more threatening…” Mishima nods as he speaks.

Futaba smirks. “We never abused cognition, save for tricking one dumbass dick. But this could be fun! But all we gotta know is…does it work?”

“Well we could always test it here.” Yusuke states. “One of you, think of..something physical that isn’t with you at this moment. It does not matter what it is.”

Ren holds his hand out and focuses, as a knife slowly starts to form in his hand. One that looks a lot stronger than what he currently has.

Futaba nods. “Yep! Seems it’ll work. Also…isn’t that the knife from that one anime about the Vampi-” But Ren elbows her before she can finish as the knife fades away.

Rise checks the layout of the room outside. “Uh guys? This whole place just shifted in appearance!”

Everyone pokes their heads outside…to see an amalgamation of memories struggling to be used as a layout for the tower. It’s unstable…

“Makoto better be quick…shit’s really gettn’ weird.” Kainji grips the doorway as he watches.

A loud slam echos from the ‘Throne Room’ of the Tower. Nythotep is furious about the current events, yet Maou remains reactionless.

“This is unforgivable! First those useless Persona users we brought back fail to kill even one of them…but one even managed to turn on us! I would have thought you provided them with the tools to do the deed, my friend.”

“I did….but what reason is this harm bringing. We’re tearing people apart…hurting others…and prolonging the lives of those who should be dead…” Maou shakes his head. “Why are we-”

“Enough of your questions, Maou. Has the Avatar brought us the Arcana yet?” The masked darkness grows impatient.

“It seems…he too has turned on us. He led them to the stairwell where the users are…they have escaped the tower.” He points to a TV, displaying Ryoji walking alone up to them.

A frustrated hissing sigh escapes Nythotep. “Very well…we will just have _her_ collect the Arcana. If most are outside the tower, this becomes easier.”

“But…is it even right? She’s like our other targets…and if she and he come in contact…won’t it cause a….Paradox?”

“Paradoxes are for time travel, fool. She is but a product of what little memories I could borrow from that useless attendant.” He chuckles, laughing as he looks to a glass coffin with Theodore inside. “To think he would try to aide the Wild Cards behind his sister’s backs. And with out his Master’s consent too!”

Banging can be heard from within the glass as Theo tries his hardest to break out. He’s clearly speaking, but the glass is soundproof…

“I’m going to watch from the balcony, you’re free to join me…partner.” The Crawling Darkness leaves the throne room and heads outside, leaving Maou alone.

Theo continues to bang, but Deathbringer waves his hands…allowing Theo to be heard.

“-and so help me as soon as they get here humanity will…you can hear me? Why are you doing this…Maou?” Theo asks, concerned.

“They betrayed me. The whole world did. What is happening now…is fate.” His hood seems to mask more of his face now.

“You say this…but do you truly believe it?”

But Deathbringer…says nothing.

_Twisted Inaba_

Shadows die left and right as Makoto guides Sojiro and the others to the Persona Training Center. They try their best to back her up, but only the Fox seems to be doing a lot more assisting.

“We’re close to our destination! Don’t break formation!” Makoto orders, running over a few more Shadows as they move further.

But while they might be doing well, the same can’t be said for Dojima’s group. With Marie growing weaker due to Inaba’s constant harm and Adachi’s overuse of his Persona…their defense is weakening.

“We need to keep this…place safe…” Marie pants, knocking away a few shadows with her bag in a slumped stance.

“Neither of you can stand though…” Dojima worries, looking them both over. “Go inside I can handle things from here.”

“Hell…no.” Adachi objects. “I’m not letting you throw your life away. If you’re gone then who the heck’s gonna be there…for Nanako, huh?”

“I know…but you have to have faith in me. I won’t let myself die because of that fact.” Dojima smirks.

Adachi stands up straight, shooting a shadow in defiance of Dojima’s orders.

“Adachi didn’t you hear me? Get inside!”

“If either one of us is gonna throw their lives away, it’s better to be me then you Dojima-san. You and your daughter….are about the closet things to family that I have. I…might not have admitted it before, but you both made working in this town worth it. If only I cared more then I did, huh?” Adachi shakes his head

“Wow, no need to be so dramatic weirdo.” Marie rolls her eyes.

But then, a slash is heard as Marie’s bag is torn at the strap. Looking over to the source they find a hooded figure much like Deathbringer.

“Oh great, this asshole again.” As Adachi prepares to summon his Persona, a naginata is pointed right at his face.

“Move.” A female voice speaks, commanding and serious.

“Yeeeeeeeah, not happening.”

Dojima aims his gun at the figure, eyes focused. “You can speak right? Then you’re not like the rest… Lower your weapon, and we can settle this peacefully…alright?”

“Negotiations will not be needed. I only require the relinquishing of the Justice Arcana and you.”

“Arcana…? What do you mean?”

“You do not know?” The female attacker asks, her stance unwavering as she stares down the detective. “All humans are tied to the rules of the Arcana. Some hold them much stronger then others.”

“And your claim is that I’m among that? It’s nothing but astrology. How can something like that actually be worth anything?” Dojima’s become much more serious. “Answer me that.”

The naginata creeks a bit as the hooded girl moves the blade closer to the man. She’s getting annoyed by his questions.

“Arcana…yeah I think I get it Dojima-san.” Adachi shrugs. “Shit’s probably why I can sometimes notice cards connected to some people.”

“Cards? You’re referring to the Tarot right?” Marie nods. “The Nose had a full deck, and each card was connected to a person Yu helped out. Heck he even had his own card.”

“Tarot cards, huh? Astrology combined with the power some people posses…I think I’m starting to get the bigger picture.” Dojima sighs. “But no matter if I understand it fully or not, I’m not letting you pass.”

“Very well then. _I’ll take you by force!_ ”

Makoto is still leading the tower captives to the Gym when they hear heavy combat. Sojiro looks in the direction of the fighting with a worried look on his face.

“There’s people over there trying to fight…I can hear gunshots.” He shakes his head. “Hey, uh…Queen. Shouldn’t you go help them out?” He’s trying his best to still use the group’s codenames out of respect.

“I can’t. If I go then no one will be able to defend the others to get to the safe point.” Queen sighs.

“You’re right, sorry to try to ask. Say Shinya, do you mind if I borrow one of your model guns?” Sojiro looks down at the young kid.

“Uh..sure I guess. But why?” The King hands him one, confused.

“Well it might have been a few years, but I can tell a loosing battle when I hear it. I’m going to go pitch in. Any of you are free to help.” Sojiro starts to walk to where the fight is, as the rest of the group looks among themselves.

“Wait! Boss you can’t just go off by yourself you-” But Hifumi places a hand carefully on Makoto’s shoulder.

“He requested we back him up. If you use Queen as your handle, then you must know that you mustn’t abandon those you hold a duty to, correct?” She states in a serious tone.

“Yes…but-”

“You’re worried about being effective at leading when Joker isn’t here to provide back up, aren’t you? You can’t always rely on your normal set up. You must work to break what molds you’ve been placed in. That’s what the Phantom Thieves stand for…is it not?”

Makoto looks to the others she’s helping…and each looks raring to help Sojiro.

“I really feel bad about saying this but…let’s provide Sojiro some back up. Flee if the fight gets too bad though. Shinya that goes double for you. Are we ready?”

The Fox moves excitedly.

“Yip!”

Back within the meeting room, Futaba is checking the Arcana movement and sees Makoto’s change in direction. “What?! She’s going the wrong way!”

Everyone huddles around her and sees the movement.

“They’re heading to Uncle’s location. But why?” Yu shakes his head. “Something must be going on…”

“I hope Nanako-chan’s okay…” Yosuke sighs.

As the non user group marches to help Dojima, Marie and Adachi fend off the robbed attacker…all the others can do is watch from the tower. But the Distortions begin to shake it.

“Yo! I don’t think this thing’s on solid ground anymore!” Kanji exclaims, trying to keep his balance. “We gotta make a move guys!”

“No. We’re not leaving without Makoto.” Ren states firmly. “If we get too deep into the tower she could get killed just trying to catch up. And I’m not having blood on my hands. …especially not hers.”

“I get the sappy sentiment and shit but, we’re closer to being flatter then a pancake right now if we don’t hoof it!” Sho hisses.

From above the tower, Nythotep overlooks the struggle in Inaba. He seems pleased…yet still he has an acing feeling.

“The Tower is loosing it’s form with each passing minute. Maou has grown complacent ever since failing to control the wild cards for a third time. His cognition and rage is what helped form this place to begin with…and now he’s loosing it. At this rate, that damn Philomon will prove victorious…again.” He grips the rails. “I think it’s time I put matters in my own hands. Free will is but a choice. And my partner’s will has become too much.”

He heads inside, a new plan starting to take action.

Theodore still converses with Maou. The two have started to slowly understand one another.

“Theo…if that’s what you prefer….do you think that what is going on is right? Are my actions justified?” He questions.

“You were exposed to their strength of will, correct? Those who were blessed by my Master’s Master….”

He nods. “No matter what I tried, they prevailed..even helping eachother despite being total strangers…but why? In the end, why help others?”

“Humanity might not always know what it wants, or how to get what is best in the end. As such…their subconscious minds creates beings who represent a darker desire. The duty of the wild cards is to walk the path of realization…and free humanity from a threat made by themselves.”

Maou looks down. “But Nythotep…is not of human creation. Their duty…it doesn’t apply here. Yet…”

But before he can finish that thought, a hand grabs Maou by the throat hard.

“I gave you the chance to act and do my will. But it seems if we must complete this, then one of us must give up will. So **_VOW TO ME._ **”

_Dojima Residence, Nanako’s Room_

Nanako had been watching the fight for a while, using her navigational Persona.

“I want to help dad out…but that girl doesn’t have a glowing dot like the others…” She sighs. “What can I…hm? I can hear them talk…”

_“I’m not letting you anywhere near my daughter, you got that?!”_

_“Nanako’s staying safe so long as we’re alive.”_

_“I’ll keep healing you two! Just keep it up!”_

Nanako shakes her head. She recalls what she did in the castle and tries to buff them. “Here we go! Give them some help **Tokuhime!** ”

Light envelops the trio as they all look around for the source. Adachi seems to be the only one who isn’t as shocked.

“Oh yeah. They did mention Nanako had one…” He shrugs.

“Wait, _Nanako_ has a Persona?” Dojima is shocked. “Well…as long as she stays where she is, I don’t see the problem.”

A gun is fired from a different direction as Sojiro finally arrives. “You three need some back up?”

“You. We spoke on the phone correct? I’m guessing you were taken?” The detective asks.

“You can guess whatever the hell you want. Right now we have to deal with _her_ right?”

The others stand behind Sojiro with Makoto leading the charge.

As they fend off this new threat…screams can be heard from the top of the Tower.

The fortune teller turns her cards, and looks at the result. “I see…so the people are going to take matters into their own hands.”

Ohya tilts her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“It is just as I say. The cards don’t lie. And I believe this is a fortune that we wouldn’t wish to not take shape.”

Iwai is still on the phone with Takemi, as the group keeps an eye on Kou’s injury.

“Things are going alright. So are we good to hang up now, doc?”

_“Yes, it seems like there’s no more advice that I can provide.”_

But as they speak, Kou raises his head level to a window, to see Makoto and the rest fighting the cloaked girl.

“Those people are fighting…another shadow.” Kou stands up, taking his shirt from Ai as he slowly puts it on.

“Hey man, don’t just get up like that! You’re still hurt!” Daisuke states.

“Yeah? But look over there.” He points out.

“Hold on…is that Sojiro Sakura among them?” Sae asks, surprised. “Damnit! So despite our efforts he still got captured…”

“So what’s our game plan then? Do we wait for them here, or do we provide an assist?” Kazushi asks.

“Obviusly we’re going to go help.” Kou states.

Takemi can be heard sighing on the other end of the phone.

_“If your injury is as bad as this guy says it is, Kou I don’t advise putting yourself in harms way.”_

“You heard the doc, kid. Sit this one out.” Iwai smirks.

“Hell no! The time I’d be wasting sitting here is time we could be using to save the rest. I’m going, and that’s final.”

Within the tower, more changes are going on. Sho steps out of the room to see floors collapsing right in front of him.

“Hey! You guys miiiight want to see this.”

The group all leaves the room, watching as higher floors come crashing down like shattered plates.

“Yo Futaba, there an explanation for this with Cognitive Psience?” Ryuji asks.

“It’s one we already know, Skull. This tower is basically a Palace. And it’s somehow collapsing.” Morgana explains.

“But…this whole area’s been affected by it.” Teddie points out. “So if the tower collapses…”

“So will all of Inaba.” Yu looks to everyone. “This whole place is now a danger zone. We can’t afford to wait for Makoto anymore. How long do we have until total collapse?”

“I’d say maybe about two hours. This isn’t a typical Palace collapse.”

The whole of Inaba seems to shake…and the tremmors can even be felt in Tokyo.

Ohya grabs a hold of the table. “You two felt that…right?”

Yoshida and Chihaya nod. But as they look around…nothing else in Shinjinku seems to have been disturbed.

Takemi gets up from the floor after having been knocked out of her chair. “Tremors…are we getting another Typhoon? Or is this another event related to those monsters?”

As the team runs to the slowly collapsing section of the tower, faint screams can be heard from above. Someone is in pain.

“T-Those screams! They have another hostage!” Chie gulps. “But they’re hurting them…”

Minato shakes his head. “No, I don’t think it’s a hostage. You explained Palaces collapse if the owner’s treasure is removed right?”

“Yeah?” Ryuji retorts.

“Well given how this is playing by all three rules. And not just one. Perhaps something is happening to our friend that is causing this place to loose shape.” Minaro suggests. “But it’s resulting in this area being destroyed.”

Another section falls, crumbling and revealing a scarfed figure in the rubble.

“You’re on the right track Minato.” He speaks.

Minato is unphased, nodding. “Ryoji. Given all I’ve been told, it’s no surprise we’d meet again.”

“I’ve chosen to fight my destiny. For how long I can however, I can’t say.”

Ren smirks. “Fate isn’t absolute. Whatever yours is…it can be changed.”

“…follow me. I know how to proceed. But we need to hurry, the more time we waste the faster this area degrades.”

The group, now being led by Ryoji makes haste through the crumbling tower. The cracking and whaling echoes throughout all of Inaba.

Makoto looks back at the tower, worry spreading on her masked face. Sae taps her back lightly.

“Hey, you need to stay focused Makoto. We have a city to protect.” She states, her tone serious.

“Sis?! When did you get here?”

“She’s with us.” Kou waves, striking a shadow with the sword he brought.

“I…see. But wait you all should be in the the gym! It’s not safe here!” Makoto is really worried now, looking over everyone.

Adachi shakes his head. “These guys aren’t gonna just turn tail, kid. If they’re insisting on helping…then let ‘em. We’re at the end of our rope anyhow…”

“But…”

Ai chuckles a bit. “You’re used to playing hero right, Phantom Gal? Well we can too. We did it before.”

Kazushi and Kenji high five each other. Hifumi looks around them as more Shadows come to the cloaked girls aide.

“Queen, you are our leader currently. Give us orders.”

Makoto sees everyone around her and grants a solid nod. “Alright. Form a protective area around the house and it’s surrounding areas. If you have a gun stay to the back, melee up front. Adachi and Marie, catch.”

She tosses them both a Soma.

“You sure are a natural leader, kid.” Adachi shakes his head.

“Well, I do plan to go into the police force after all.”

Futaba tracks everything going on. “Great. Makoto and her escortees have been cornered. But they seem to be fending them off.”

“Shit. Should we turn around then?” Ryuji asks.

Ryoji shakes his head. “There’s no time. You need to reach the top before this whole place crumbles into nothingness.”

“Great. Then we just gotta pray old death is willing to square up.” Yosuke sighs, shaking his head.

Chains rattle, which causes the navigators to gasp.

“I sense death!” Fuuka exclaims.

“Great…and I just got back.” Shinji shakes his head. “Well, are we going to fight or book it?”

“Wouldn’t it be suicide if we try to fight a Reaper right now? The whole building’s coming down!” Labrys points out.

“Our numbers are enough to overwhelm it. We should be fine if we’re quick about it all.” Minato states.

“You heard him! No using your Persona though, we can’t afford to expend too much mental energy.” Ren adds.

The group rush the oncoming Reaper all at once.

Chihaya looks over her cards, as Takemi walks to the trio at the table.

“Tarot hm? And what are you doing with these during a crisis?”

“We’re supporting a kid who’s in the middle of all this crap. And why do you care?” Ohya states bluntly.

“Because that ‘kid’ is someone I owe a lot to.” Tae retorts. “He’s in Inaba right?”

The three nod, which makes the doctor smile.

“Then I think he’ll do just fine. He stopped one crisis after all…”

Ren’s eyes focus, drawing his knife on the reaper as it goes down.

Kenji manages to shoot down a Shadow. “We’re actually wining! These Shadow things are nothing when there’s this many of us!”

Maiko nods, dodging a shadow the best she can. “I’m not gonna lose! I made a promise to spend time with Minato, and I’m not gonna waste it!”

Minato slices through shadows with his katana, determination shining brightly in his eyes.

Kou and Daisuke are back to back, panting a bit.

“I’m not…giving in…not yet. Inaba’s our terf after all! So we have home advantage!” Kou strikes a shadow.

 _“On your left! Look out!”_ Nanako calls out

The duo move out of the way, only for the Fox to slash the shadow with a knife firmly gripped in it's maw.

Yu moves fast, lighting spells shooting out at any shadow before him as the group goes higher and higher up the tower.

But close to the top, a figure stops them. Cloaked in a familiar robe and breathing heavily, it smirks down on the group.

“Servants of Philmon will….welcome.”

“You…what has become of you?” Akechi questions, hand hovering over his sword’s hilt.

“My dear friend Maou, oh how useless he has become.” He cackles. “ A puppet that can no longer be used is mere garbage. This puppet’s role has just ended.”

“So you took over his body as opposed to giving orders?” Yu is in disbelief. “This..is..”

“Inhumane? Is that what you were going to say, seeker of truth?” Nyarlathotep  laughs. “But of course it is…but I am no mortal.”

“Yeah, you got that right…you’re a piece of shit that needs to wiped off this place!” Sho shouts.

“If you must threaten me like that, then do not hold back Wild Card.. **_show the full extent of your power!_ **”

While the Crawling Darkness clearly laughs, Maou himself seems to be in pain. This doesn’t go unnoticed by Minato, who quietly nods.

The final battle…has finally come.

 


	10. The Bonds That Break The Fog

The sky thunders as the Persona users charge at the possessed Maou. He swipes his hand, casting a cursed element skill that hits everyone, but nails Goro hard.

“AGH!” He holds his side. “He knows how to exploit our weaknesses…”

The Navigators get to work, scanning Deathbringer. Their results show something chilling.

“This..isn’t what I’m used to seeing guys! He’s…made of Shadows. As in…Plural!” Futaba states.

Naoto fires a few shots, nodding at the statement. “So my theory had some ground after all. Can we use this knowledge to our advantage?”

Ryoji shakes his head, trying his best to stay on the sidelines. “Even if you could, there’s still a human body at the core.”

“You don’t wish to hurt another human, correct?” Nyarlathotep cackles, forcing a twisted smirk on Maou’s face. “Your weakness is all too apparent.”

The Tower’s walls crumble, giving all of Inaba a good view of the goings on…

Makoto looks up, seeing her teammates fighting Deathbringer. “They’ve made it to them already?”

Sojiro shoots a shadow. “Hey! We need to focus on our current problem.”

But as they all fight, the cloaked girl looks up at the tower, with worry on her face.

The fight within the tower rages on, and soon Nyarlathotep grows tired of the back and forth.

Ryuji charges in to strike, only for a cage to drop in front of him. Several other cages drop in front of the other thieves.

“W-What’s going on?!” Mishima asks, panicked.

Morgana focuses hard. “I think I know what’s happening…and I don’t like it…”

Nanako watches from her room, nervous about the battle going on outside…only for a flickering to happen behind her. Startled, she looks to see her TV turning on all on it’s own.

_“Huh? My TV’s on!”_

Marie and Adachi look to each other, worried. The latter sighs, shaking his head. “Stay as far away from the TV as you can, Nanako! Don’t touch that screen no matter what.”

The hooded girl laughs, stretching a bit. “Try as you might, but your efforts are in vein. **ORPHEUS**!”

Her Persona, bearing some resemblance to Minato but with longer hair goes to strike Adachi. But Dojima manages to kick her, causing the Persona to halt in place.

Kou observes this and nods. “Hey! It seems if we attack the user, it affects the Persona.”

Makoto nods. “Right. She seems to be another Mimic like before. But much more accurate to how we operate.”

“If it’s a Mimic, then it’s basically a Shadow…correct?” Sae asks.

“Yeah. Which means we don’t have to worry about going all out.”

Back with the main group,  Nyarlathotep is effortlessly avoiding most attacks thrown at him.

“Tch, this guy’s faster then when it was just the robed jerk by himself…” Kanji grunts.

“We need to think of a new approach…” Akechi points out, drawing his gun and opening fire. “But most ideas we’ve used so far haven’t worked.”

“And we still have those cages to worry about.” Yosuke adds, “Who knows what they could do…”

Futaba is silent however, scanning the cages carefully. “They’re…linked. Linked to…us.”

“What do you mean, us? I-…wait. SHIT!” Ryuji’s eyes widen. “If this guy’s got all these connections to shadow’s and cognition..he could easily bring back that crap we saw in the depths…right?”

“Depths? You mean the bottom of Mementos correct?” Akechi asks, moving out of the way of an oncoming scythe strike.

Futaba gives an audible nod. “Yeah, locked in cages with total faith that their desires would be fulfilled. But, I don’t think that’s what he’s planning.”

The throne room comes crashing down onto the battlefield, bringing Theodore with it. Minato, upon seeing this…has a sudden realization.

“Targeting arcana…making our friends all come to that meteorite….this is his final step.” Minato looks to the group, worry clear on his face. “Stop attacking! I think he’s-”

But Mishima is already charging the foe in an attempt to play the hero, only for chains to grab him in much the same way Minato was grabbed in his mental scape, as he’s slowly dragged to a cell behind him.

“W-What the heck is this?!” Mishima desperately tries to pull the chains off his ankles, only for his wrists to be restrained. It’s not long that in the middle of his panic, his rebellious will fades as if the chains themselves were draining it.

Yu looks up at Deathbringer, anger burning. “You tried that before, in our minds. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.”

“There, it was your domain…but we’re no longer in that space. I rule here, and as long as I will it…it shall happen, such is the rule of the human mind.”

With a snap of a finger, TVs…Coffins and more cells emerge. Each with a tarot card on them.

Some even appear near Makoto’s group.

Sae watches as they appear, fear spreading on her face. “This can’t be good…everyone stay on guard. Don’t touch anything that comes out of the ground!”

“That’s gonna be hard, miss Prosecutor.” Iwai states, pointing at the shadows emerging from the vessels. “Seems we have hosts to deal with.”

As Mishma is dragged into the cell and locked away, the symbol of the Moon Arcana appears over the cage…acting as a sort of lock.

Ren grunts in frustration, placing a hand on his mask. “Come! **Sandalphon**!”

But his mask sparks, causing him to kneel down. “What…? This has never happened before…”

From within the Velvet Room, the remaining siblings watch on with great concern.

“Theodore foolishly went on his own to aide the wild cards…” Margret sighs. “While his capture is of no consequence…it is still fatal for him to be in the human world for too long.”

“Sister, we need to run to his aide!” Lavenza insists. “I know we must have faith in the Wild Cards but…our own family has been taken!”

Igor shakes his head. “It is too risky to let you all come out. Should none of you remain, it will become harder to repel the darkness from our living space.”

“So you would abandon Theodore?!” Lavenza is enraged. “I cannot believe this..”

Elizbeth places a hand on her younger sister’s shoulder and smiles. “Theodore will return, just like he always has.”

“How can you be sure, sister?”

Margret sees the hurt on her youngest sister’s face, and then looks to the battle…seeing the Persona users struggle to fight the draws of the Crawling Darkness.

“We must only act when we see it fit to aide humanity. And with it’s current protectors in trouble Master…I must object to your statement.”

Lavenza looks up to Margret, hope in her eyes.

“I shall take my sisters to aide not only our idiot of a brother, but those who need it the most.” She raises a hand and a door appears.

Igor sighs, and offers a nod. “Seal the door, Margret. And do not expend too much of your power.”

Shadowy arms reach out from the sprouted TVs as they go after members of the Investigation Team. Yosuke is trying his best to dodge them to the best of his abilities.

“Okay! I kinda get what’s going on here! If we get sucked in..our Persona gets sealed and our connection is blocked. This is why Ren couldn’t summon Sandalphon.”

Futaba nods, flying her persona around spiraticly in an attempt of throwing off the perusing chains. “The others down below must be dealing with this too!”

Yu takes a deep breath, as a tarot card manifests before him. “ **Sraosha**!”

But upon shattering the card….nothing happens. Yu freezes as his eyes slowly widen in realization.

“Nanako-chan? Can you help us out again with these shadow weaknesses?” Makoto asks. “I can’t do this by myself, you know.”

But she receives no reply.

Dojima looks around, panicked. “Why aren’t we getting a reply? Is there a bit of a delay?”

Adachi shakes his head. “No…this is normally instant. Her TV turned on…and these TVs have…shadows…DAMNIT!”

Yu runs at full force, charging directly at Deathbringer with sword drawn.

“ **_YOU SON OF A BITCH!_ **”

He laughs, holding out his sythe and swinging it to block his oncoming attack. “Once again, you let your emotions leave you open…Seeker of Truth.”

Yu is then struck by the blade of the scyte, knocking him down hard…face first. A foot is placed on his back.

“The folly of your actions…see it before you human.” He pulls his collar up, showing as his friends fight in vein to escape the shadow arms…but are unable to.

“Yu!”

“Senpai!”

“SENSEI!”

Ren and Akechi fire shots at Deathbringer from either side in an attempt at pulling his attention away.

Sho then slashes at the man, knocking him off of Yu and leaving him open for an attack by Messiah.

But, despite some shadow mist leaking out of him…Maou stands tall.

“Damnit..I thought for sure that would have worked…” Akechi shakes his head.

Yu stands up, and a bunch of Tarot cards surround him…with several grayed out.

“Have I…lost…? with this many gone…I can’t use Izanagi-no-Okami to it’s fullest…”

A hand is placed on his shoulder, a familiar one.

“This isn’t like you, Yu. “ Margeret states. “You have overcome your fair share of conflicts…and you still have people who are willing to fight alongside you.”

Lavenza nods, holding the Grimoire book close to her chest. “She is right. As long as you have friends and people you trust by your side, you cannot fail.”

Yu looks to his fellow Wild Cards and those who remain, all of which are smiling.

“Right. This isn’t over. Everyone, push forward. We _will_ win this!”

Standing tall, the remaining Persona users, the Wild Cards and now the Velvet Room attendants stand before the possessed Maou.

Lavenza has a look of pity on her face. “He is overtaken by Nyarlathotep…but I still sense the spirit fighting for control…”

“But it may not be strong enough. Keep in mind, our hooded buddy was doing this all on his own before our other friend showed his face.” Futaba states, scanning the area and their opponent.

Dojima and Adachi slam open the door to the house, rushing into Nanako’s room to find it empty.

“Damnit!” Dojima states, looking for where the Shadow could have possibly broken in.

Adachi however, goes straight to the TV and places a hand on it causing ripples. Giving a solid nod, he looks to his former partner.

“Dojima-san, she was pulled in here. Like before.”

Looking closely, they can both just barely make out the Justice arcana in and amongst the red static.

“Would you be able to go in after her?”

Adachi shrugs. “Depends on if I can fit.”

Back with the main battle, Ren looks to the remaining team and smirks.

“If…Maou…if that’s what his actual name really is…if he’s fighting this bastard then we just gotta knock it out of him. All out offensive.”

“No holding back, he is made of shadows.” Minato adds.

With that, everyone charges.

“Foolish, no matter what you plan the outcome is the same. You will be simply make the outcome of this fight come much faster.”

He blocks sword strikes from Sho, Akechi, Yu and Minato. Gunfire from Yusuke, and even a knife swipe from Koromaru and Ren.

“Is that all you have, fools?” He laughs.

“Hey! Forgettin’ someone?”

Labrys, Haru and Shinji all strike him to the ground with their axes.

“Now! Akihiko, Ann!” Mitsuru orders.

The two go to attack, but Deathbringer goes to block it…only being unable to lift the scythe for some reason.

“Huh?! Why can’t I…”

_“I refuse to be nothing but your vessel…”_

Futaba and Fuuka check their readings and gasp.

“This power surge! It has the same readings as a Persona awakening, but it’s not clicking the exact same boxes.”

Red energy surges from the body of the hooded man.

“It reminds me of my own awakening…uncontrolled power…yet it wasn’t fully realized until…” Akechi shakes his head. “He’s going to need help. Everyone, keep attacking the body as hard as you can. Do not falter if the person next to you is captured.”

Everyone nods and dives in.

The same level of morale high hits Makoto’s group.

“Keep an eye on who is beside you! Fight and make sure they’re safe.” Sae orders.

The fox is grabbed and dragged into a TV, which angers Shinya.

“Hey! You can’t just take my new friend away from me and not expect me to kick your butt you bastard!” He shoots at a perusing shadow.

Iwai and Sojiro are back to back, opening fire at any hostile that moves their way.

“I’d question why you’re here of all people…but given our situation, that’d better saved for another time.” Sojiro sighs.

“You always kept sticking your nose where it didn’t belong… _agent_.”

Sojiro shakes his head, laughing a bit to himself. “Seems those same sorts of people found me as well.”

Ai does her best to fight off a Shadow, as it wraps it’s long slender arms around her waist. Kou moves in to try to save her, only to get grabbed himself.

“Kou! Ai!” Daisuke goes to save them, only to get caught up in it as well.

Yu moves to summon a Persona once again. “ **_Zaou-Gongen_ **!”

But once again, the tarot shatters and nothing more. This however only makes Yu more determined. “Fine then…come,   **_Sandalphon!”_ **

But like Ren before him, it doesn’t come.

A few shadows are summoned into the battlefield to make it harder for the group to get to Deathbringer.

A wolf shadow starts to move towards Ren, mouth open to bite him. But just as it’s about to lunge, Ryuji pushes the Phantom out of the way…getting bit right where he was shot not too long ago.

“AGH!”

“Ryuji?! Dude you really need to stop doing this…” Ren sighs, shaking his head.

“S..Stop what? Saving your goddamn life? To hell with that!” He pushes the wolf off of him, and pulls out his shotgun to kill it point blank. “I’m not gonna abandon my friends, even if it costs me my life.”

Yu checks his arcana again, as he sees the hanged start to grey out. “Damnit…”

Ryuji offers Ren a fist-bump to which the leader takes.

“Let’s show this asshole what teamwork really is!”

Joker and Skull begin to charge the leader, shooting any shadows that try to stop them.

“I..cannot control this fool!”

_“You made the one mistake of trusting me, Nyarlathotep. And for that you will fail! And I will enjoy every second of your suffering as we go down together.”_

**“ENOUGH!”**

The ground shakes as the tower starts to give way more. The collapsing of the whole area seems to have speed up.

As the quaking of the crumbling cognitive landscape goes on, the remaining persona users and the Velvet Siblings note that there may not be a whole lot of time left.

“This is getting pretty hairy!” Ryuji yells, opening fire on shadows that are appearing to defend the Deathbringer.

“Despite his rebellion against his supposed partner, it’s only resulted in the quickened destruction of the whole area…” Elizebeth notes, opening her book to summon a Persona.

“We have to keep at it though, no matter what. For the sake of my friends…and everyone else.” Yu electrifies his blade as he charges in.

“Mona-chan! Ann and I are going to aide Yu!” Haru calls out, lifiting her axe as they both cover Yu’s weak spots moving forward, killing any shadows that may appear.

“Tch, he’s getting hot headed again..” Shinji points out. “Every time that guy gets pissed, he runs in with no regard to the bigger picture it seems.”

“Should we back them up then?” Akihiko suggests, killing a shadow with a single punch.

“It might be in our best interest, yeah.”

The duo run up, attacking more shadows as they begin to chase Yu and the girls.

“Yo Joker…somethin’ is feeling off.” Ryuji slams down a shadow with his pipe. “All of these shadows are dying in one hit…that rarely happens.”

“Are they weakened due to Maou fighting with the Crawling Darkness?” Morgana suggests. “Or is it to wear us out like before?”

_“You…will not control me!”_

“Damn you! I will show you which of us is the master here, human!”

Yu stops dead in his tracks, as a large shadow blob drips down from the top of a broken steel beam, as if it were blood.

_“Yu! Ann! Haru! Get out of there! This shadow’s reading is on a super boss level!”_

The blob slowly takes shape, resembling a King Frost…but with other frosts with them.

Minato observes. “Jack Frost…Pyro Jack…King Frost…Black Frost…Queen Frost and Jack Ripper. Normally they’d be easy to take on, by themselves.”

“But they’re all together. Each specializing in some sort of party set up.” Ren adds.

“It’s a family reunion…that’s gonna be hell for us.” Ryuji sighs.

**_“HE-HO!”_ **

The Jack family sends out a barrage of spells at the trio, Yu trying his best to guard the girls…but with so many links gone he’s lost access to anything with high enough repelling powerless, and is sent flying by the flaming and icy blast.

“Yu!” Ann calls out, trying her best to avoid the attack, but the family all prepares to attack.

“Ann and Haru are in trouble.” Morgana clenches his paws. “I owe a lot to humans. And if this shadow family is what is keeping us from living our lives in peace…then I’ll stop them.”

The cat runs off to protect them, knowing full well he can’t take that combined attack himself.

“Is he an idiot?!” Akechi exclaims. “I better go back him up before he-” But Ryuji stops him.

“Let the cat have his moment. We gotta focus on whaling on the main asshole, right?”

**_“HE-HO-HE!”_ **

The family prepares to strike once again, Ann and Haru standing thier ground.

“We might get locked up like Mishima…but I’m not gonna go down without trying!” Haru exclaims. “Do your worst, Frost Family.”

The girls both aim their guns and start to open fire to try to delay the spell casting, but to no avail.

**_“HE-HO!”_ **

They send the attack at them, full blast. But just as the girls brace for impact..

“NOT ON MY WATCH!”

Morgana jumps and shields them from the blast as the spell hits him completely, enveloping him in a white light.

“This light…” Lavenza observes. “It is much like his creation…is it not?”

Margret nods in agreement. “Perhaps the world’s current state is having an affect on him…”

Ann and Haru look up, to see a young man dressed in thief garb around their age shielding them with arms outstretched.

“As a family, you should be ashamed to be ganging up on people. Especially my friends!” He draws a cutlass. “You’ve pissed me off real good now.”

“Mor..gana?” Ann asks, rubbing her eyes.

Yu walks up. “I’d save the questions for later. Squad A help Morgana with the frost team, Squad B, take out Deathbringer. GO!”

Ren nods. “Ryuji, Akechi? Will you both back me up?”

“Hell yeah!”

“But of course.”

The Frost Family attempts to strike at Morgana again, his new human appearance now making him a larger target.

“Gonna try again, eh? Do your worst. I’m not gonna back down until we end this!”

Akihiko and Shinjiro help Ann and Haru to their feet as Yu gets ready to summon again.

“We have a bunch of shadows here to deal with, not just the main ones.” Yu points out.

“So, we just have to lure them away and fight one on one right?” Akihiko bumps his fists together, sizing up each shadow.

“It would most certainly be the wisest approach, yes.” Yusuke nods.

“So pick a target and stick to it until it dies!” Morgana laughs, rushing after Jack Ripper.

“You heard the former fuzball, get after it!” Shinji runs in himself.

Meanwhile, Ren’s squad is surrounding Deathbringer, who’s still fighting an inward battle.

“We have him surrounded!” Ryuji smirks. “Ain’t no way we’re gonna mess this up.”

His eyes go focused, as a wide smirk appears. “It seems I’ve momentarily regained control. The Trickster and the Aggressor hm? Show me why the two of you had the world on your shoulders before!”

Akechi smirks. “Gladly.”

The group goes in, Ken and Koromaru working together to strike.

“Foolish. _To the grave with you!_ ” the possessed Maou raises his hand, as two glass coffins capture the Tenderfoot Duo.

Minato holds his chest a bit. “Damnit! Keep going guys! Like Akechi said, don’t falter. We’ll keep fighing…even if only one of us remains.”

More and more people are being dragged into Arcana Traps, but Adachi and Dojima are still safe…for now.

“Damnit Adachi! Can’t you figure out some way to get in there and pull her out?!”

“It’s not that simple though, Dojima-san. Where she’d end up…would be the TV World normally. But that’s what’s currently combined with our world. So she’s just trapped…”

“So it’s acting like a jail cell then…” Dojima nods. “More of those TVs, Coffins and Cells popped up from the ground. They must be trapping anyone with connections to the kids.”

“Which means we’re targets too.” Adachi looks up at his old partner with a stern look on his face. “We gotta figure out a way to spring them, and how to avoid capture ourselves.”

“Right and-” But before he could finish it, they hear Marie scream outside.

“Shit! Come on!” The duo run out, only to see a TV sealed with the Aeon tarot.

“Damnit!” Dojima yells, kicking some grass in frustration.

Two TVs appear behind the duo…it’s only a matter of time…

Yu looks at his Persona selection…only to now have three options left. Hirophanant, Hunger and Empress.

“Keep going…even if you’re the last one left.” He repeats Minato’s words as he charges at King Frost with pure determination. **_“IZANAGI!”_ **

Dealthbringer floats a bit, laughing. “You cannot hope to win this. Your energy shall be spent, and the Fall will be wrought upon the world!”

“They’ll stop you before that comes to pass.” Ryoji shouts, fists clenched. “Humanity will not suffer by it’s own design. And…I refuse to being that danger upon the world again.”

“Ryoji…” Minato smiles a bit.

“Humanity won’t bow down to any god, no matter what!” Morgana states, striking down Jack Ripper.

Ren smirks. **_“ARSENE! TAKE FLIGHT!”_ **

Arsene allows Ren use of his wings as he flies up to meet Deathbringer eye to eye. Everyone else seems either impressed or dumbstruck.

 _“Wait, he can do that?”_ Futaba remarks.

“Intriguing…so you’ve learned more about Persona utility…”

“Yeah. Enough Utility to kick your ass.” Ren draws his pistol, shooting him right in the head, causing him to fall.

“…that killed last time I swear.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it, Amamiya.” Minato rolls his eyes, charging at Deathbringer to attack while he’s downed.

The Frost Family is having a hard time dealing with this many Persona users, as they go down until it’s just King Frost.

 _“You guys are doing great!”_ Fuuka claps. _“Just a bit more, and we can all take care of-”_

“Miss Fuuka, look out!” Theodore calls from his glass coffin, but it’s too late..as the Shadow Operatives Navigator is put into a glass coffin of her own.

This leaves only one Navigator left.

_“Oh crap! Guys this is bad! I’m the only Navi here now! Rise and Fuuka are both AFK!”_

“Great…and it’s too many of us for one of you to handle.” Sho sighs. “Just do whatever.”

“Too…many you say?” Nyarlathotep smirks. “Allow me to aide you…”

“W-Wait.” Junpei looks behind him. “Oh crap!”

Yukari sees and kicks him out of the way, getting taken herself in his place.

“NGH! Yukari!” Minato glares at Deathbringer as he plunges his sword in hard. “You’re having too much enjoyment with this.”

All he can offer in response is a laugh. “It seems so, toying with you Wild Cards is but an amusing run. But given my vessel’s lack of humor…it’s time to end this play session.”

He kicks Minato away, rising to his feet.

“Oh hell no, you’re not gonna try anything you hooded freak!” Ryuji charges in, only to be knocked hard by a brutal scythe strike, landing him directly in a cell.

**_“HE-HO!”_ **

King frost unleashes a powerful ice spell, forcing a lot of Yu’s back up to to slip and get dangerously close to arcana traps.

The velvet attendants are even caught up in this blast, along with Ryoji

“Stubborn…like insects…” The hooded mastermind snaps his fingers, as the shadow’s spell grows in strength…

The Wild Cards watch helplessly as each of their remaining allies become entrapped within the Arcana prisons.

In Tokyo, things fair just as worse. With those in Shinjinku clutching onto what they can as cells begin to suck them in.

“W-What the hell?! What is this?!” Ohya exclaims. “Does this…have to do with the kids in Inaba?”

The Tarot deck falls to the ground…showing one last fortune before the cards are blown to the far ends of the alley.

“The Fools…shall prevail…” The fortune teller states before all three are taken into a cell.

Ren, Minato, Akechi, Sho, and Yu are now all that stand before Nyarlathotep.

No more links empowering them…they now stand before a god with just their own raw potential.

“Shall you surrender your lives to me, or continue to fight for a world wrought with misguided souls? The choice is yours…Philemon’s Chosen.”

The Wild Cards stare down Deathbringer with unshaking determination. Sho lets out a mocking laugh.

“Give up? Hell no! This shit’s just getting fun.”

Nyarlathotep nods. “Very well then. **_Become one with the sea_ ** **_!_ _”_ **

The five go after the Crawling Darkness, splitting up in different directions as they try their hardest to overwhelm thier oppenent. Ren and Akechi firing off shot after shot as Sho and Yu swipe at him.

But their attacks do next to nothing, even when Minato tries to join in to strike it just isn’t enough.

“The hell?! We should be kicking your ass right now!” Sho yells in frustration, diving to strike once more only to be knocked aside by a hard scythe swing.

“Your power comes from your relations, sever those and you’re as helpless as your captured comrades. It is a flaw in the way your gifts were bestowed.”  Nyarlathotep states.

“It’s no flaw…” Yu objects, going in to exchange strikes with the god. “All humans…no…all living beings on earth benefit from the bonds they form. Whatever is put into the relationship is also taken out.”

“Whatever the reason for meeting, or to what end…living beings depend on one another for survival.” Akechi adds. “I tried to distance myself from those bonds, and as a result I never felt like I was alive.”

“And it doesn’t matter how the hell you get it either!” Sho adds, summoning  Tsukuyomi. “Fighting, or just lame ass talking. Whatever you do, it’s gonna happen.”

“Even in dire circumstances like this, we are not alone.” Minato summons  Orpheus. “We still have one another, and even if the bond is still growing..it’s strong enough to overcome you.”

“You shoulda killed us when you had the chance, dumbass.” Ren laughs, summoning Arsene. “Hey Akechi, remember what you did on the arc?”

“Are you sure you want me to do that? It’s extremely risky.”

“I’ll take any risk at this point.” Yu states. “Whatever you’re planning I agree with it. **_IZANAGI!”_ **

Akechi sighs and nods. “If you have enough faith in me, then very well. **_LOKI!_ **”

“What foolishness are you planning now? Whatever it is, it won’t work.”

“Oh I’m sure it will work just fine.” Akechi smirks. “ **Do it**.”

Red shadowy mist envelopes the five, as they all smirk.  Nyarlathotep is taken aback a bit.

“So you choose to lose any bit of sanity you have in a futile attempt to defeat me? Very well then.”

**“DIE!”**

The five charge at Nyarlathotep, exchanging blow after blow in rapid succession. No more talk, no more words at all they all are dead set on winning this.

They manage to knock the scythe out of his hands with a collective strike, as it clatters to the ground the Arcana traps start to break open one by one.

Yu kicks it far away with Izanagi going to destroy it before going straight to impaling the god, which is followed quickly by the rest.

As the others are freed slowly, the thieves look at the five with horror.

“That light…” Yusuke remarks. “It’s the same light that enveloped Akechi back on the Arc.”

With the bonds being freed slowly, the power from the five is restored with each freed person.

“He’s still struggling though..” Yosuke points out. “We should help them, but…is it even safe to approach in that state?”

Futaba shakes her head, “They might attack us. All we can do, is keep any would be shadows away from them.”

Nyarlathotep kicks them off, shadow mist bleeding from him immensely.

“Still moving, even with that.” Haru remarks, holding her hand to her chest.

“Just die already.” Ren states, as Arsene casts Egaon,

The hooded figure attempts to doge the oncoming strike, but can’t. Maou has regained control of the body.

_“Humans will prevail, Nyarlathotep. I’ll see to it that they do!”_

“DAMN YOU!”

With one last collective strike from the five, their weapons sink into the chest of the god as black mist shoots out from all sides.

And it all goes…to white.

They find themselves, in the Velvet Room as a very pleased Igor claps.

“Very well done. I see our faith has yet to be misguided.”

They look around, but notice that Minato’s blade is still stuck in Maou’s chest. With Minato unmoving as if he were a statue.

“Why isn’t he movin’ toothpick nose?” Sho asks, leaning over to poke him only for Akechi to pull his arm away.

“His time with you, is limited.” Theodore states, opening up the Grimore as Elizabeth looks down. “Do you recall Nyarlathotep’s mention of…the Fall?”

“Yeah, wasn’t it some sort of world ending event?” Ren asks, arms crossed.

“Correct, Trickster.” Lavenza nods. “Minato…is the seal that prevents such an event.”

“But, that means he can’t be with his friends right?” Yu asks, a bit saddened. “It’s not fair for anyone to have to deal with this. Especially when Mitsuru and the others finally got to see him again!”

From within another space, Minato finds himself in a white void…with two figures standing before him. Ryoji…and Maou.

“So…we managed to push them away…right?” He asks, sadness in his voice.

Ryoji nods, sharing his friend’s sadness. “Yeah. That means…it’s time to go back.”

Maou walks up to them, shaking his head. “It’s not right.”

“What do you mean? This burden was placed on me ever since that day, I’ve come to accept it as the way life was heading for me.” Minato states, but while he tries to be convening his tone is anything but certain.

“I can see it in your eyes. You wish to stay with them. Your friends, new and old.” Maou is stern as he speaks this.

“…you might be right. I abandoned my friends once before. And now that I have even more…it just means it’ll hurt worse to leave them. But what can be done about it?”

“….I can take your place. Temporally.”  Maou offers.

Ryoji looks skeptical. “How do you plan to do that? You don’t have the same strength of will to hold out Eurbirs long enough for him to pass on naturally.”

“He granted me a lot…when we worked together. My soul holds a lot more strength then it did. I am, of course,  speaking to the both of you right before the bridge to the Sea of Souls after all.”

“But why would you even take my place? Weren’t you trying to kill us not but a while ago?” Minato looks him in the eyes.

“That…is why I wish to do this. To repent for all that my selfish desires brought upon your loved ones…and the rest of the world.”

Minato is silent. If he agrees, he can finally be with his friends, his family.

“What’s your choice going to be Minato?” Ryoji asks.

“I accept.” He smirks at Maou.

“Thank you…for allowing me to do this…” He bows before he walks off with Ryoji…vanishing before the white area around Minato becomes blinding.

Minato opens his eyes slowly, seeing everyone crowded around him…his friends worried.

“He…he’s still alive!” Junpei exclaims, diving straight for a hug which is joined by the rest of the Shadow Operatives.

Minato laughs, hugging them all back. “Yeah, I’m here. This time for good.”

Ryuji look around the area, seeing Inaba back to it’s normal…dull self. The only evidence that the town had any sort of supernatural event hit it is the Meteorite that is still in it’s landing spot.  

“Damn…you wouldn’t believe me if I told you this place was a warzone at one point.” He shakes his head.

“I would.” A familiar voice states. Everyone looks over to the source to see Kou along with the rest of the former captives walking up to them. “This place went though hell…we were kidnapped by Shadows right? And tossed into a sauna.”

“Hey can we…not bring that sauna up. Like…ever again?” Youske states. “The less I think back to my first time there the better..”

“So, what are you gonna do with us now?” Daisuke asks, arms folded. “In the movies, normally when an event like this happens-”

“They wipe your memories!” Kenji states. “Just like in Men in Shades right? So…we won’t recall any of this…right?”

“That would be the case…if we did in fact have such devices.” Mitsuru explains, nodding.

“So are we allowed to keep our recollections of these events then?” Hifumi asks, head tilted.

“Yeah.” Minato responds. “But you all have to promise that none of what transpired here is brought to the attention of the general public.”

“But wait, hold on. This was all over the news.” Sojiro points out, hand in his pocket. “And that red haired kid there was featured fighting them, Persona and all. How can you be sure that people won’t still talk about it?”

“We can handle the cover up if need be.” Mitsuru reassures.

“Ooooor I can just hack into all the TV Stations that have the footage and delete them. It’s super easy!” Futaba giggles, but Sojiro doesn’t seem too keen on the idea as he places his fingers on his temple.

“Well regardless of what course of action we take, we’ll get it taken care of.” Labrys smiles.

“Onto another thing…did anyone notice that…well… _MORGANA IS HUMAN?”_ Makoto points out.

“Ah, right. You weren’t with us.” Ann nods. “Yeah, it just sorta happened. I still can’t figure out why.”

Morgana laughs, smile wide on his face. “Did you forget, Lady Ann? The power of cognition was strong back there. Ren was able to manifest that knife after all.”

“So you’re saying that you…grew a human body by thinking real hard?” Kanji asks.

“Well…I guess that’s technically not wrong but…”

“No that’s pretty much it.” Futaba laughs.

“Well I for one approve, one hundred percent! It’s beary nice!” Teddie puts an arm around Mogana’s neck with a wide smile on his face.

“What am I going to tell my parents though?” Ren sighs. “They just got used to having a cat in the house and now the cat is a person.”

“You could always kick him out you know. You have a chance to.” Ryuji smirks, laughing when Morgana glares at him.

“You could just convince your folks to adopt him.” Kou suggests. “But he’d need paper work and such…”

“This is where I come in!” Futaba exclaims. “Making all the right documents for Mona will be easy!”

Yu looks over to his uncle. “This won’t be an issue, would it Uncle?”

Dojima sighs, shaking his head. “After all this crazyness, I can overlook this just this once. I’ll do what I can to make sure it goes right. Can’t have this kid going homeless, right?”

Yosuke looks around. “Speaking of overlooking…where did Adachi go?”

“Him? He left as soon as he got out of the TV he was trapped in. By my guess, he went to his cell before anyone could notice he got out.”

“Then perhaps it’s time I head on as well…stay too long here and I’m bound to be recognized.” Akechi states, putting his hood up as he starts to walk off…only to be grabbed by the arm.

“And just where do you think you’re going, Goro?” Sae demands, a stern look on her face. “You still need to tell me about your involvement with the scandal last year.”

“…right. I figured I wouldn’t get far enough without getting interrogated by you, Sae-san.” Goro sighs.

Sae looks to Mitsuru. “Do you mind if I use your chopper as a makeshift interrogation room?”

“By all means.”

The two head to the chopper as everyone watches. Minato sighs, stretching just a bit.

“Well now that I’m here for good…it’s summer right? Why don’t we make the most of it? Didn’t that Amagi Inn have hot springs?”

Yukiko nods, putting her hands together. “Yes we do! Do you all want to go spend a night there? We’d love to have you.”

“Pay attention to who’s turn for the bathes it is this time, Yukiko.” Naoto sighs, shaking her head remembering…the incident.  

The group all heads for the inn, but Mishima lags behind just a bit. The events are still playing out in his head. He awakened to a Persona, and was able to train alongside all those who were more skilled then he was. Only, in the end he couldn’t contribute much. He was captured during his first true attempt, and seeing Ren and the other wild cards accomplish what they did…didn’t help matters at all.

As the guys head into the outdoor bath, Mishima is still thinking it all over. Only for Ryuji to nudge him.

“Hey man, don’t be so glum. We effing won against a freaking god!” He laughs.

“Hey, not so loud!” Ren mutters. “We have to keep this all under wraps remember?”

“We didn’t. It was Ren, Yu, Minato, Sho and Akechi. They were the ones who defeated him in the end.” Mishima sighs.

“I know you think about it like that but, it was because we managed to free you all that we really won in the end.” Yu points out.

“Had it not been for our bonds with you all, we would have lost.” Minato puts his hands behind his head.

“So…it really was a team effort in the end?” Mishima suddenly looks a bit happier.

“For sure, man. We all played our part.” Kanji smiles.

“Speaking of team effort…Mitsuru wanted me to ask something of you Thieves.” Akihiko states. “She wants you all to keep in contact should another issue like this crop up.”

“So you wish for us to join under the banner of the Shadow Operatives then?” Yusuke asks. “We would want something in return should we agree, you know.”

“Geez, you guys really are thieves if you’re asking it like that.” Ken sighs. “But what could we offer in return?”

Morgana laughs, rubbing his hands together. “Well if you really must ask, how about a life time supply of tuna!”

Ryuji shoves the former cat’s head under the water for a bit before letting go. “Ignore him.”

“This should really be up to Ren, right? He is our leader after all.” Mishima points out.

“We want a few things in return for our services.” Ren smirks. “First and foremost, Mishima here is currently working on a documentary for us. If Mitsuru could provide funding so it can become a reality.”

“That’s not that bad of a request. What else?” Junpei asks.

“Next, we want to get as much info on Persona and the many ways Shadows can come into being. If you could allow us access to that martial.”

“I’d question why, but it’s good to know. What else?” Minato asks.

“Keep a close eye on Akechi. Don’t let him off your radar. I know he’s going to go back into hiding after this and it might not be long before Shido’s shoe lickers get to him. He knows info that we’d all die to know so it’s important to keep that source safe and sound.”

“Done.” Akihiko nods. “I’ll let Mitsutu know later.”

“Then you have a deal.” Ren slumps a bit into the water with a satisfied look on his face.

“But maan…this was not how I expected to kick off my Summer..” Ryuji laughs, slumping in a bit himself. “I was fully prepared for a lax couple of weeks in a country town, not saving the effing country again.”

“Despite how we did meet originally, I’m glad we were able to come out of all of this as friends.” Yu smiles, laughing a bit.

“Annnnd, I was right! The TV World was actually in danger after all!” Yosuke seems proud of himself as he states this.

“Are you sure that’s really why you had us snoop, Yosuke-senpai? Or was it because you bored as hell two days into your summer?” Kanji looks at him hard, which causes everyone to laugh.

“Sh-Shut up okay?! Safety was my first priority!”

“I think I see your Shadow, Yosuke~” Teddie teases.

Minato looks up to the starlit sky, and smiles. The world might have changed some while he was gone…but at the end of it all…he gained more friends. And that’s what mattered the most.


End file.
